Stray
by Demented Koneko
Summary: Katsuya is having a difficult time with school and his jobs when things turn for worse with his father's death. All alone with nowhere to go Seto surprising offers to take the broken boy in leading to a collision of previously unknown feelings.SetoKatsuya
1. Chapter 1

**Authors Notes: **This is my first Yugioh fic, so I'm hoping that it's okay. I apologise for the unoriginal title, however it does fit with the story.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Yugioh, nor do I pretend to.

Stray: Chapter One

The young blond haired man let out a loud yawn as he stretched his arms out over his desk. So desperately he wanted to sleep, but class was just about to begin. Then again the fact that he was in school never prevented him from getting a little shut-eye before.

"Are you alright, Jounouchi-kun?" piped a concerned voice.

Pushing himself up, he looked around to find his smaller best friend standing next to his desk. Flashing his usual wide-Jounouchi smile, he replied, "Ah, yeah, I'm fine. How about you, Yugi?" However, he could tell from the sudden frown that appeared on his friends face, that something was wrong.

"Jounouchi-kun I'm worried about you." The smaller boy stated uneasily.

Katsuya stared back perplexed, and thought for a moment. Yeah, he was pretty sure that he hadn't done anything dangerous recently. Nothing that would warrant his friend's worry anyway, so he continued to stare back at Yugi, hoping his friend would fill him in on what he was so 'worried' about.

Realising that his friend had no idea what he was talking about, Yugi gave him. "Everyday for the past couple of weeks, you've looked so exhausted whenever you come to class. Every time I look over, you look like you're about to fall asleep, and once you even did! A few of the teachers have already given you a lecture about it and if they see you doing it again, I'm pretty sure they'll give you detention."

Katsuya groaned inwardly. He was convinced that just about all of the teachers had it in for him.

"Plus you haven't been to the game store for ages. Jii-chan has even asked me if you're still alive. Not to mention that whenever the others and I ask you to hang out, you say you're busy and run off."

He frowned. He understood now. Not only was Yugi worried but he also missed him. He brushed his hand through his hair and sighed. It was true that he hadn't been around much lately and that he had offered his friends little explanation of his sudden un-attendance in um, well doing friend-like activities.

"The others are worried too, you know."

Damn Yugi and that adorably worried expression on his face that made him feel guilty every time he saw. Guess there was no hiding it now.

"I got another job." He said, finally.

"Eh? But what happened to your last one?" asked the multi-colour haired boy in surprise.

"I…I still have it."

"Huh? But then…Wait, you're working two jobs?!"

"Yugi, keep it down!" whispered Katsuya, quickly shoving his hand over the boy's mouth. "The school doesn't know I have another job and I'll be in deep shit if they find out!"

"But why are you working two jobs, Jounouchi-kun? Don't you already have a weekend job too?"

"Yeah, but if my Dad and I want to have food and a place to stay for the next month then I had to take this other job." He replied wearily.

Noticing the sympathetic expression on his friend's face, he quickly perked up. "Hey, but it's not too bad, you know. The job's pretty easy and all. I'm working at one of those twenty-four hour stores and with my shifts I don't get too many customers so I'm either tidying the place or sitting around doing nothing. And, hey, the pay is good considering the sitting around doing nothing part." he laughed. Yet the expression on his friend's face remained the same.

"Jounouchi-kun, has…has your Dad started…" he trailed off, not wanting to finish his sentence. However, he knew by his friend's sudden silence that Katsuya knew what he was talking about.

"Yeah, and he's run up a debt." He began, dejectedly. "I'm not exactly sure how much but I know that it's a hell of a lot. That's why I needed the extra job. If we can't pay this debt, we're screwed."

"But-but can't the bank give you an extension on the pay date? A few years back when the store wasn't doing that great, I'm pretty sure that Jii-chan went to the bank and-"

"I'm afraid not…"

"But…but why?"

"It-it's…" he sighed, "Just because."

"Everyone, get to your seats!" yelled their teacher as he entered the classroom, startling Yugi and several other students.

Yugi looked at his friend feeling completely helpless. "Jounouchi-kun…"

"Mutou-kun! What are you doing?!" boomed the teachers voice.

"Ah, sorry, sir!" he cried stumbling back to his seat.

With that, the class began, and not long into the period, Katsuya found himself dosing off once again.

* * *

He sighed as he piled cans of soup onto the shelves. He felt guilty about Yugi, his friend obviously worried about him. He'd have to apologise tomorrow and hopefully make him realise that this was something he had to do. There was no way that the bank would give his father an extension. Not after his previous records. Katsuya was surprised that the bank hadn't already cancelled their previous loan.

The sad thing was he knew that even if they managed through this and somehow managed to pay off their debt, his father would just go and do the exact same thing over again; get another job till it became too much, take a drink, get addicted again, claim he doesn't have a problem and then run up another debt. The only difference was that each time the debts just seemed to get bigger and bigger. How much longer could this go on?

Still, no matter what happened, he had no choice but to continue on working to secure their income. His father was in no condition to work at the moment and he refused to abandon him when he needed him. He wouldn't abandon him like his mother had them…

But at the same time with all his jobs and having to attend school, things were really taking it out of him. Yugi was right about him being constantly exhausted and he had next to no time to rest. He would go to school, do his paper route after that, go home and do his homework and maybe catch a quick nap if he had time, leave to go to the store were he worked into the early hours of the morning, catch a few hours sleep when he got home and then would get up for school were the whole routine started all over again. Yes, life most definitely sucked at the moment. And sadly, unknown to him, it would only become much worse.

* * *

Katsuya let out a loud yawn having just woken up. He lay there for a few minutes, surprised that he had actually awoken before his alarm had gone off

"I wonder if I have time to go back to sleep." he mumbled to himself as he reached for the alarm clock. "Nine twenty five," he pondered sleepily. "That's mean I have-" He stopped and it finally clicked. "That means I'm late!"

With as much agility as he could muster having just woken up, he leapt off the bed and started to shove his clothes on while at the same time trying to find his school bag. "Shit! I must have forgotten to put the goddamn alarm on when I came home last night. I was just so tired..."

With that he ran down the stairs. "Why the hell didn't Dad wake me up?!" he thought angrily to himself. Of course considering how reliable a man his father had been in the past he knew that he really shouldn't have been that surprised.

He sighed. "No time for breakfast…"

"Dad, I'm away to school! Sorry but you'll have to make your own breakfast this morning!" he yelled as he ran out the door. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't actually seen his Dad since yesterday morning. He had been out when Katsuya had returned home from school and last night when he got home from work he had just gone straight to bed. Usually he would have popped his head into his Dad's room just to make sure he was okay. Or well, that's what he told himself anyway...

The real reason was to make sure that his father was still there and that he hadn't suddenly abandoned him like his mother…

Hastily he shook his head. He had no time to think about that. Right now he had to concentrate on getting to school.

By the time he reached the school building he was about ready to collapse. Whether it was due to being unfit or his general exhaustion of late, he made a mental note to try and exercise a little more. He grabbed hold of the railing willing himself not to die as he tried to regain his breath.

"Amazing. I didn't think you were so special and ahead on your studies that you didn't have to worry about turning up to school on time." stated a voice from behind him.

Katsuya grimaced as he turned around to find none other than the arrogant, narcissistic millionaire, Kaiba Seto.

"Like you can talk Kaiba! You're late too!

"Yes but unlike you, mutt, I have a corporation to manage which in turn allows one certain leeway. You on the other hand-"

"Shut up!" the blond haired boy yelled suddenly. "Like hell you're the only person that works hard! I happen to work damn hard, for your information and-" Abruptly he stopped, having to catch his breath. Yelling when he felt like he was about to collapse was a very bad idea.

The taller boy smirked, "Hm. I'm sure you do," and with that walked off.

If it wasn't for the fact that he felt like he was dying he would have gone after him. That Kaiba bastard really pissed him off, putting him down whenever he got the chance. He snorted. And here Yugi wanted everyone to try and get along with the guy!

By lunchtime, Katsuya was wishing that he had never bothered getting out of bed. Things just seemed to be getting worse and worse. He was late for school and ended up receiving a massive lecture off his teacher about being late in front of the entire class, while Kaiba stared back at him from his desk looking all smug!

Ok…he didn't look smug, in fact he hadn't even been looking at him all, but Katsuya was sure that in Kaiba's mind he was being smug about the whole thing.

After the lecture on being late, he got another one about wasting class time, and to make matters worse as punishment he was given double the homework everyone else had received, which he had no idea when he'd actually have the time to do it. Add to that the fact he was exhausted, still had the rest of the school day ahead of him and two jobs waiting for him afterwards.

"Honda, please kill me, okay?" he mumbled as his other best friend appeared.

His friend frowned. Usually his best friend was so energetic with a smile on his face, but lately he had been the exact opposite.

"Jounouchi, I'm-"

"You're worried about me. I know, I know." Katsuya interrupted. "Yugi gave me the whole speech yesterday. I'm fine, really."

"You're not."

"What are you talking about? Of course I am." He said, forcing a fake smile on his face.

"Idiot! Do you really think I can't tell when my own best friend is unhappy?!" yelled Honda angrily. A few girls turned around to see what was going on, but Honda gave them a glare that made them turn away again instantly.

"Honda…"

He sighed and leaned against his friend's desk. "Yugi told me that you've got another job. Why didn't you tell me?"

Katsuya shrugged. "I…I guess I didn't think it was that big a deal."

"Come on, Jou, this is me. Your Dad must be in hell of a deep for you to have- what is it, three jobs now?"

He didn't reply; instead just stared down at his desk. He was so tired. He really wished Honda wouldn't question him about these things right now.

"You won't be able to keep this up for much longer you know."

"I have no choice…"

"How's that?"

"Look, can we just drop this, please? I don't want to talk about it right now." he pleaded in an unusually quiet voice.

Seeing the distress on his friends face, Honda decided to stop pressing. "Okay." He placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "We'll talk about it later, ne?" Katsuya gave a small nod. "I really am worried about you, you know. And I'm always here if you need me."

The blond haired boy couldn't help but smile at his friend's words. "Thank you, Honda."

"No problem." he replied before returning to his own desk.

Katsuya sulked into his chair. Not only had he still not apologised to Yugi for making him worry, he now had to do so with Honda too.

"I'm sorry, everyone…" he whispered softly.

Unknown to Katsuya, Kaiba Seto was watching him. For some reason, Seto could not help but sense a change in the blond haired boy recently. This confused him. Not the change in the boy but that he had even noticed such a thing and the fact that he was now curious.

The annoying, second-rate duellist no longer seemed to smile quite as much as he once had and always appeared to be completely exhausted when he came to class. Even Yugi and the mutt's other bothersome friends seemed to know little of what was wrong with him. Just what was it that was making the boy act so strangely?

Seto mentally scolded himself. He didn't have time for such idle thoughts. He had much more important things at hand, and again he had no idea why the hell the mutt's change in behaviour was bothering him so much. The only time they ever spoke to each other was when he was taunting the mutt.

Only when it came to duelling did he show any interest in Yugi and his little friends, so why now?

He suppressed a groan and was suddenly over come with the urge to inflict severe bodily harm on the boy who had somehow managed to weasel his way into his thoughts.

"Stupid mutt…"

* * *

Katsuya let out aloud sigh as he opened his door, and wondered that if perhaps unconsciously he had been attempting to break the world record for sighing in the past few days. It sure seemed like it.

"Dad, I'm home!" he yelled.

He really wanted to go and have a nap but with all the extra homework he had just received…

"Guess those kinds of luxuries are for other people…" he thought to himself solemnly.

He opened the fridge and took out a can of juice. Last one. And there wasn't much of anything left in there. Great, now he'd have to pick stuff up after work... "Oh well, at least I work in a twenty-four hour store." he figured, trying to look on the bright side.

"Hey Dad, there's not much stuff left in the fridge and cupboards but will you be alright with what there is left for dinner tonight?" he yelled from the kitchen.

He waited for a few moments but got no reply.

"God, he better not be a sleep." he moaned to himself. "Dad!"

"I swear if he's just-"

He stopped, freezing suddenly as he opened the living room door. "Da-Dad?"

There lying on the floor covered in alcohol and vomit was his father.

Snapping out of his stupor he rushed to his side. "Dad! Dad! Dad!"

The smell of booze and puke…It was so strong… And his father wasn't waking up.

"Dad! Wake up! Dad!" He started to shake him a little, but he didn't stir. He couldn't be… God no…

The blond boy was shaking all over. This…this couldn't be happening! Fearfully he lifted his father's wrist and checked for a pulse. He sat there, fingers pressed against the wrist for what felt like an eternity, praying to feel something.

But he felt nothing…

No, there had to be a mistake! He laid his head against his father's chest, struggling not to throw up from the horrible stench.

No heartbeat.

He backed away. His father…he-he was dead… And Katsuya felt his own life shatter into pieces…

**Authors Notes: **I hope that was okay. Sorry for the lack of Kaiba/Jou interaction. I'm just building up to it at the moment. Any advice on how I could improve and constructive criticism are always welcome. Thank you for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

**Authors Notes: **Thank you so much for the kind reviews! I hope you enjoy this instalment too.

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, nor do I claim to do so.

**Stray: Chapter 2**

Empty eyes stared up at the ceiling. A week had passed since his father's death, and in that week he had been plagued with so many painful emotions that that he could no longer feel anything at all. Both mentally and physically drained, it cost Katsuya all his energy just to get out of bed in the morning. That's why he didn't. Instead he just lay there lifelessly, so incredibly numb that he knew if he could feel anything, he'd be frightened. Never had he experienced such pain.

It had been hours ago since he last cried but still his throat felt raw and his head ached badly. He knew a glass of water and some pain killers would probably help, but even sitting up felt like an impossible venture. He had hoped that the rawness of his throat and aching of his head would somehow distract him from the numbness. His hope however was in vain.

He hadn't been to school since the death; the same with his jobs. The last time he had seen any of his friends was at his father's funeral. He had been avoiding them as much as possible, telling them that he just needed sometime to be by himself. Honda had been against this wanting to be with his friend in his time of need, but Katsuya really couldn't have bared seeing his friends any longer than he had that day. He didn't want them to see him like this; so weak, so vulnerable. Didn't want to be a bother…

In his hand was a crumbled piece of paper, only three words written on it. Still he had read those words over and over hundreds of times now as if reading them was an obsession or somehow essential to his very survival. While the police had searched his father's room, an envelope was found addressed to him. In it had been the piece of paper he was holding now.

'_I'm sorry, Katsuya.' _was all it said. And with those three words such a huge array of emotions were invoked. Pain, guilt, anger, resentment, sorrow, disappointment, self-hatred… So many…

A sentence so simple yet he could still not pinpoint its true meaning. He felt cheated. Not just on that, but on so many things in life. And now his worse fear had come true. His father just like his mother had abandoned him. Never before in his life had he felt so unbelievably worthless. His love for both his mother and father hadn't been enough to make them stay. His mother first proved this when she left taking his beloved sister with her.

Knowing that love wasn't enough, with his father he became their main source of income, holding down three jobs despite still being a High school student, and standing by his father when he got fired from his work and drinking on and off. He had done all that yet it still hadn't been enough. What more could he have done? And would it have even mattered anyway?

"I guess I really am worthless." He spoke aloud to himself, his voice hollow. "Kaiba was right…I am. I really am…"

He was unsure why the tall azure eyed millionaire had entered his mind. He could hear his voice in his head telling him just how much of a worthless dog he was and it made him start to hurt again. He didn't know which was worse: the emotional pain or the empty numbness. Although the Kaiba's remarks usually stung, he could pretend that they didn't affect him, but not now. Not now when his defences were so low. Tears welled up in his eyes as he began to sob. Even when the arrogant bastard was nowhere near him he was still able to kick him when he was down; so much so that he could reduce him to tears. He felt humiliated and grabbing his pillow he started to cry into it feeling completely alone.

* * *

A couple of days later Katsuya eventually returned to school. Yugi and the others had phoned many times, asking if he was alright and when he would be returning to school, all which he ignored. He was sure that they had even come by his house a few days ago but he couldn't bring himself to open the door. However when he finally saw his friends faces it brought him some relief, even if those faces were painted with pity. Still they were better than the faces of his classmates who continually kept staring at him and whispering about his father's suicide. Honda did his best to stop this, growling and making silent threats to anyone he looking at his best friend, even the girl who he had once had a crush on. The only person who wasn't gossiping behind his back and continuously staring at him was Kaiba.

At last the bell rung, signifying that school was finally over. He couldn't take it any longer, couldn't stand everyone gawking at him. He had to get out of this place. Frantically he threw his books in his bag and ran out of the class pushing pass a couple of students before his friends had even reached his desk. He was going to cry. He was going to break down again.

He screwed his eyes shut in an attempt to stop the tears from coming but in his great desperation to get away he ended up accidentally running into someone. The impact from this caused him to fall down and just to add to his luck, the person he ran into turned out to be none other than Kaiba Seto.

Slowly, Seto turned around to see the idiot who ran into him was. Ah, yes, Jounouchi Katsuya, the biggest idiot of them all.

"Ah, I'm sorr-" Katsuya began but stopped once he realised who it was.

Seto glared down coldly at the boy still on the ground, ready to cut him which a sharp comment about his stupidity when suddenly he stopped himself. Tears where running down the mutt's face making him look completely vulnerable. He had never seen the boy cry before.

"How pathetic. Aren't you a little old to be-" Abruptly he stopped, finally realising the reason why the boy would be crying. His father had committed suicide little over a week ago. From what he knew, everyone in his class had been talking about, but he had perfected shutting out the voices of his fellow classmates long ago, not caring for their idle gossiping. It had in fact been Yugi who had informed him of his Jounouchi's father's death.

He opened his mouth to say…to say…well something, but for once he was speechless.

Pushing himself up off the floor, the boy still in tears ran away leaving Kaiba standing alone in the hallway.

Seto cursed into himself but didn't go after him. He wasn't that kind of person. After all, why should he care for the problems of others? However, a short period later, he found himself strangely regretting not having gone after the boy.

* * *

Not long after Katsuya had returned home from his Paper route, the phone rang. Grudgingly he picked it up, having hoped to get a nap before going to his job at the Convenience store.

"Hello?" he answered tiredly.

"Onii-chan?" asked a feminine voice from the other end of the phone.

"Ah, Shizuka!" he cried, instantly perking upon realising that it was his younger sister. "How are you?"

"I'm fine, Onii-chan. I…I was actually calling to see how you were doing. I've phoned a few times but you never picked up. I was getting worried."

"Ah, sorry. I was probably at work when you called," It was a lie, and he really hated to lie to his sister but he couldn't tell her the truth either. "Sorry to have worried you."

"Oh yes, I never thought of that." She said, sounding slightly relieved.

"Anyway, I'm fine. You don't have to worry about me." he chuckled.

"Are-are you sure? To tell you the truth I am worried about you. With Dad gone, you…you're all by yourself." she stated sadly.

"Shizuka…"

"And the bills… Will you be able to afford the rent?"

Katsuya frowned. The last thing he wanted was for Shizuka to worry about him. He was her big brother; he had to be strong for her. He wouldn't let her become sad over him. So again, he lied. "I promise you that I'm fine. And my jobs cover the rent and food expenses so money's not an issue. Plus, I'm not one of the top rated duellists in the world for nothing. Your big brother can take care of himself." He tried to sound as confident as he could, hoping that she would believe him.

There were a few moments of silence.

"That's true." she said finally. "I just worry about you, that's all. And…I really do miss you."

The blond boy couldn't help but break into a smile. "I really miss you too."

"We'll see each other soon, ne?"

"I promise."

"Ah, Mum's calling me for dinner!"

"I guess you better go then."

"Yeah…" she replied sadly. "Um, you know, if you ever get lonely you could always come live with Mum and I." His eyes widened at this. "I don't think she would mind. I mean I might have to persuade her at-"

"It's fine Shizuka. I'm happy where I am." he replied, trying to hide the sorrow in his voice.

"Oh." She sounded disappointed. "Anyway, I better go now else mum will get mad. Love you Onii-chan."

"I love you too."

"Bye." And with that, the phone went silent.

Frowning, he sank down on to the couch. He knew she was disappointed, but truth be told, there was no way he could go live with her and his mother. Shizuka in her naiveness couldn't see it, but Katsuya knew that his mother didn't like him very much. Even though he had managed to get the money to pay for his sister's eye operation which in turn saved her sight, she still looked at him the same way she looked at his father; with contempt. He tried not to hold it against her however. She loved and cared for Shizuka and that's all that mattered. She cared for her when he could not. Not that it made much difference. In the end he couldn't even care for his father… Couldn't save him…

Closing his eyes, he thought back to that night, now over a week ago. "Shit." He buried his head into his hands.

* * *

The businessman sighed and pulled back from his desk, rubbing his eyes gently with his fingers.

"Ms Kanzaki. Could you please bring me a cup of coffee?" he asked, speaking into the intercom sitting on his desk.

"Certainly, Sir." came his secretary's reply.

He sighed again as he leant back in his chair. He wasn't prone to sighing but he had so much work to get through and right now he had done…well very little to say the least. For some reason he found himself unable to concentrate which was rather unlike him. The work was easy enough to complete and normally he would get through it with no problems at all, but right now his mind appeared to be somewhere else.

There was a knock on the door and in came his secretary with his much desired coffee.

"Here you go, Sir," she said, handing him a cup. "Do you need anything else?"

"No, that will be all."

He waited till she left before taking a sip. It was nice but not enough to sooth what was on his mind.

All he could think about was the mutt Jounouchi Katsuya and the incident in the hallway earlier. The tears running down his face, how vulnerable he looked… His father's death must have devastated him. It was ironic how differently they felt towards their father's deaths. Whilst Jounouchi felt pain, he received satisfaction from his father's death. That is, if you could even consider Gozaburo a father…

He frowned, as some old memories returned to him; memories that he would rather forget.

He gritted his teeth. "Idiot dog." He knew that it wasn't really the blond boy's fault, but still he couldn't help but blame him for his lack of getting any work done and the unpleasant memories now circling his mind.

It made sense that Gozaburo would be on his mind, but it didn't make sense for the mutt to be on it. Unlike Yugi, he never had any interest in the boy, so why now? They weren't even equals; Seto being far superior to him in everyway. Such people had no place in his mind. And yet here he was…

Taking his cup of coffee with him, he got up and went over to the large window behind his desk and stood there gazing out. It was dark and nasty outside. He had been so preoccupied with his thoughts that he had failed to hear the loud drops of water banging against his window as if they were on some kind of rampage. He was glad to be in doors and hoped that Mokuba wasn't silly enough to play outside in this sort of weather.

As the drops of rain ran down the window, he saw a flash of Jounouchi's tear stricken face. Frowning, he turned away from the window. "Stupid mutt." He returned to his desk.

* * *

The blond haired boy cursed his luck out loud as just a few minutes after leaving the house, it started to pour down with rain. And glancing at the sky, it looked like there might be a storm. He just hoped that the storm would be gone by the time his shift at work was over as it wasn't like he could afford a cab home.

Ten minutes later he finally arrived at work, albeit soaking wet. He tried running there but found himself out of breath and exhausted all too quickly. He really was lacking in energy these days.

"I hope I'm on counter and not stocking shelves." he thought to himself.

"Jou-Jounouchi-kun?" stuttered the managed, as Katsuya walked in the door.

"Sorry for my absence, Mr Tanaka. I'll get to work right away!" he said, putting on a fake smile. "What do you want me to do tonight?"

"Uh, Jounouchi-kun… I-I didn't expect to see you back here." stuttered the store owner.

"What-what do you mean?" Katsuya asked, confused. "I told you what happened. You told me I could take sometime off because of my situation. I phoned last week and told you that I'd be returning to work today."

"Uh, yeah, I remember. But the thing is, we were short staffed at the time, and we really needed an extra pair of hands. Plus I wasn't sure that after your fathers… y'know, that you'd becoming back, so I gave your job to someone else."

"You did what?!" the teenaged boy cried out in horror. "But-but I told you that I'd be coming back today! Why the hell did you think that I wouldn't be coming back?!"

"Look kid, I'm really sorry, but I had no choice. Plus this new guy is able to work more shifts."

"I-I can work more shifts! Just-just give me my job back, please!" He pleaded desperately.

"Sorry, kid, no can do."

"You don't understand how much I need this job! My father left me with so much debt and without this job there's no way that I can pay it back!"

"Uh, Jounouchi-kun, I'm afraid that I'm going to have to ask you to leave." Mr. Tanaka glanced around anxiously at the customers who were beginning to take notice.

"What?! You can't be serious!"

"Look, don't make me call the cops."

Katsuya gritted his teeth, unable to believe what he was hearing. This couldn't be happening! Not after everything… not after everything and now this! "Please, Tanaka-san. I'm begging you…" He got down on his hands and knees. "Don't do this."

"You idiot, the customers are staring!" cried Tanaka in a heated whisper.

"I need this job…"

"That's it! If you don't get the hell off the floor and out of this store, I really will call the frickin cops!" yelled Tanaka, unable to keep his cool.

By this point every customer was curiously watching the scene. Katsuya didn't care. He needed his job back. He didn't care who the hell saw him right now. For all he cared, Kaiba could walk in and mock him relentlessly.

"Get up!" He didn't budge, his eyes staring downwards.

Finally snapping, the store manager grabbed Katsuya by his shirt collar, pulling him towards him. "Look, why don't you do what your old man did. Go drink yourself into debt and then kill yourself!"

The boys eyes widened in shock, feeling like he had just received a fatal blow. How-how could he say that? The tears that he thought he had finally ridded himself of started to well up in his eyes. Shrugging free from the man's grasp, he ran out of the store and into the rain.

"That's right! We don't need no low life pieces of shit here! Don't you come back!"

No…No…This couldn't be happening! How-how the hell was he going to pay off his father's debt? How was he going to support himself?

He couldn't handle all of this. He felt like he was going to be sick. He wanted to scream. So many voices circling around in his head; his father's, Yugi's, Honda's, Shizuka's, his mother's all crying out to him.

And finally he broke down falling to his knees

* * *

Seto stared aimlessly out of the window of the limo as his driver drove him home. Despite how hard he tried, he couldn't get any work done, and realising he had lost this battle decided to call it quits and go home for the night. He admitted that he was looking forward to being home early and being able to spent some time with his brother but it did mean that he would have to stay later at Kaibacorp tomorrow night. Oh well, nothing he wasn't used to anyway. He would work doubly hard tomorrow to make up for his failure today and knew that after a few hours rest tonight that any silly, irrelevant thoughts would be gone from his mind and that tomorrow would be just another normal day.

He continued staring out the window, the rain coming down heavily when suddenly he thought of Mokuba. It had been awhile since he had treated his brother to anything and like most eleven year old kid's he loved sweets.

"Pull over at nearest convenience store." he instructed his driver.

A few minutes later the driver pulled over at a small store and Seto got out of the car. He wasn't too bothered about getting wet, just hoping that the dingy little store had something decent in it. He began to hurry in when suddenly something got his eye; a figure huddled up in a corner near by. "How pathetic." he thought to himself and was just about to walk away when he noticed the blond hair sticking out. The image of Jounouchi Katsuya appeared in his mind. But it couldn't be him.

To Seto's surprise he found himself slowly approaching the figure. He bent down for a closer inspection when the figure suddenly looked up at him.

"Ka..Kaiba..."

For a moment his breath caught in his throat. It really was the mutt. "Jounouchi." He wasn't quite sure if it was the fact that he was right and it really was the boy lying on the ground or the expression the boy wore on his face. His eyes looked so horribly empty, defeated…dead. The boy was absolutely soaking, his skin a horrible milky pale, and he had to wonder how long he had actually been sat here like this.

"What…what are you doing out here?" he found himself asking.

However, Jounouchi didn't reply; just continued staring up emptily, and if Seto was completely truthful he found it somewhat unnerving.

"Idiot dog. You know you're going to catch your death sitting out here like this."

Still no reply.

At this point, Seto found himself becoming slightly irritated, although he refused to show it. "Why don't you go home?"

Again there was no reply.

Deciding that he had had enough of this he was just about to get up and leave when the boy finally spoke.

"You…You were right…I…I really am…" Seto had no idea of what the boy was talking about but was suddenly aware of how strained his voice sound.

Just as he was about to open his mouth to ask what the hell the boy was talking about, Jounouchi started coughing and spluttering.

"Jounouchi!" He grabbed on to him, trying to hold him steady. He didn't bother asking if he was okay as it was obvious to anyone that he wasn't. He placed his hand on the blond boy's forehead and was shocked at how hot it felt.

"He-he left… I couldn't do anything…" Katsuya whispered.

"Don't speak." ordered Seto, trying to decide what to do.

"You were right…" He started to cough again and the brunette tightened his grip on the boy. "I…I really am worthless."

Seto's eyes widened but before he could properly process what he had said, the boy's body started to fall and Katsuya's world faded into darkness.

**Authors Notes: **I hope this chapter is alright and that Kaiba isn't coming off as too OOC. To be honest I'm finding it a little difficult portraying Kaiba as his usual detached, apathetic self but at the same time showing that he is worried about Jounouchi - without worrying too much of course. Any advice on how I could improve and constructive criticism are always welcome!


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Yugioh, nor do I pretend to do so.

**Stray: Chapter 3**

As Jounouchi awoke and hazily opened his eyes, it occurred to him just how much like utter crap he felt. His head was pounding and he generally felt miserable. Desperately he wanted to just curl up and go back to sleep, but for some reason he felt that something was a miss. For one he was sleeping on his back which was something he never did. He either lay on his sides or was sprawled all over the bed. As his eyesight came into focus he noticed that the ceiling appeared different. It seemed further away somehow and the paint looked a lot whiter. The bed also felt a lot softer, although whether this was because he was sleeping on his back, he was unsure. Nonetheless, all these things added up to one thing: he wasn't in his own bed.

Panic rushed through his mind. Had he been kidnapped? That was what usually happened in these situations, when you wake up somewhere and have no idea how you got there, right? But who'd wanted to kidnap him? It wasn't like he was worth anything, and if anyone held him for ransom, they sure as hell wouldn't get much money if any. He became filled with even more dread at the realisation that perhaps it was aliens who were in fact his abductors! The supernatural terrified him – which of course was rather ironic given the situations he had found himself in, in the past – and aliens most of all. Ever since he had seen that one movie as a kid, he had nightmares for years after.

"_God, please don't let the aliens experiment on me!" _

Then again, the bed was way too soft and comfy. Didn't aliens usually tie you down onto a metal table of some sort? After a minute or so he decided that the best way to figure out where the hell he was was to get up and see for himself. Using his hands he slowly pushed himself up into a sitting position. Why did he feel so incredibly weak?

He looked about curiously to find himself in a large extravagantly decorated room. He had no idea who in the hell it could have belonged to – none of his friends anyway – or how the hell he had got here.

"Hey…Did I… Maybe…this is heaven."

"Unfortunately not. Although for a mutt like you I can imagine that this is pretty close." sounded a voice.

Jounouchi frantically looked around to find none other than Kaiba Seto sitting in the corner, a laptop on the table next to him.

"K-kaiba?! What the hell are you doing here?!" yelled the blond haired boy, forgetting that he himself had no idea why he was here.

Kaiba gave him a patronising look, or as patronising as he could manage. Jounouchi found it difficult to tell his facial expressions except when he was incredibly pissed off. Other than that he just wore his usual icy cold exterior. "Are you that stupid? We're in my house, you idiot."

"Oh…" Then it clicked. "Wait, what?! Why the hell am I in your house?" Had Kaiba kidnapped him? And if so, shouldn't he be in some dungeon under the mansion rather than in this bed? That would make a lot more sense and…

"I found you." stated Kaiba, interrupting his strange thought process. However these words clearly did nothing for him as he just stared back blankly.

Kaiba had to resist the urge not to sigh. "Don't you remember anything from last night?"

"Last night?" He spent the next couple of minutes trying to think back. It was a little hazy at first but gradually he started to remember. "I remember that it was raining. I went back to work after being off for two weeks because of…" he stopped. "Well just because. But when I went back, my boss told me that I no longer worked there anymore. I asked him to give me my job back, but he refused. I ran out and…." He sighed. "I can't remember anything else after that..."

After remembering all this he really wished he hadn't. "So I lost my job, huh?" he spoke out loud to himself. He placed his hand against his head trying to take in the reality of the situation. He really was fucked. He needed that job more than anything. The debt collectors were knocking on his door, the rent was a month overdue and if he wanted to keep attending High school he would have to continue paying his tuition fees. And without that job he couldn't do a single one of these things. "_What am I gonna do? What am I gonna do? What am I gonna do?" _

"You don't remember anything?" Katsuya looked up startled. For a moment he had completely forgotten about Kaiba's presence and just where he was.

He shook his head. "No. I don't."

"I found you outside that Convenience store, drenched like some poor stray puppy. If I hadn't found you when I did, you would have probably caught hypothermia. Either that or someone would have mistaken you for a hobo and called the police on you for loitering."

Katsuya let out a small laugh, surprising both himself and Kaiba. He wasn't sure why he was laughing. After all there was nothing funny about the situation whatsoever. In fact it was the exact opposite. Maybe in the past two weeks he had cried so much that no more tears could come out. Therefore all he could do was laugh. Nothing made sense anymore. His entire life was being shot to pieces and there was nothing he could do about it no matter how hard he tried. Was this how the world treated people like him? Like the piece of crap that he was? Like his father was? His father… None of this would have happened if only he hadn't… Had his father finally realised the futility of struggling for people like him; that no matter how hard you try, you won't get anywhere in life; that such a thing was destiny and the only way to escape it was by…

He didn't want to think about it. He could still see his father's body lying lifelessly on the floor, covered in vomit and beer, and suddenly the words of his ex-boss began ringing in his ears. "_Do what your old man did. Go drink yourself into debt and then kill yourself!" _

He snapped his hand over his mouth. It was all becoming too much. He couldn't… He felt so sick; the sight of his father lying there. "_Dad!_ _Dad! DAD!" _

Suddenly he was shook back into reality as a basin was shoved in front of him. The timing was impeccable as at that moment, Katsuya quickly proceeded to vomit into it.

Seto placed his hand softly on the boy's back, rubbing it gently. Too busy throwing up the contents of his stomach, Katsuya wasn't even aware. And it wasn't until Kaiba realised what he was doing that he quickly stopped, pulling back his hand. It was a conditioned reaction, something he always did to comfort Mokuba whenever he got sick. He had just forgotten who it was that he was doing it to.

A few minutes later Katsuya finally stopped throwing up, the fact that he had done so on an empty stomach making it ten times worse. He felt like absolute shit, and again had completely forgotten where he was until he heard Kaiba's voice.

"Are you finished?" He couldn't tell if Kaiba was mocking him or not, but proceeded to nod anyway. And with that, Kaiba took the basin out of his hands and left the room.

Both his stomach and head were killing him now. He really couldn't remember the last time he had felt so weak. Maybe he had never. Add this to the fact that there were a hundred questions circling his mind, such as what exactly was he doing here in the Kaiba mansion and less importantly why was a basin just randomly shoved in front of him as doubted very much that Kaiba kept random ones lying about for the sake of it.

A minute or so later Kaiba returned, and it was then that it dawned on him that he had just vomited out his guts right in front of the guy. On top of that he was in such a weak state that he must have looked embarrassingly pitiful. He cursed under his breath. Of all the people in the world, why was it Kaiba that had to find him? Had fate not fucked him over enough already, that it still needed to throw him in front of his rival when he was in such a pitiful condition? Obviously not…

He knew that Kaiba must be loving this. No longer could he argue back and defend himself against Kaiba's 'looser dog' remarks. Not after this. Kaiba had been right all along. He clenched his fists. Kaiba had just said something but he couldn't bear to look up. How in the hell could he possibly look him in the face now? Why hadn't he just left him there to die? Death was something he wanted more than anything at this moment in time, and once again fate was denying him this.

"Jounouchi." Seto said again, trying to catch the other boy's attention. It was the first time he had called him by his actual name and not something along the lines of 'looser', 'mutt' or' idiot'.

The blond boy wasn't responding, instead staring down at the bed sheet. Mentally Seto cursed. He hadn't all day to waste, and the mutt was making things difficult. He reached his arm out and placed his hand on the mutt's shoulder to bring him back to reality. However, the reaction he received was not what he had expected as the boy violently flinched back.

"Don't touch me!" he screamed, wrapping his arms tightly around himself. Seto pulled his hand back and for a moment let the shock of the action appear on his face before it quickly disappeared again.

"Don't…don't…look…at me…" Jounouchi whispered his voice barely audible.

It was now that Kaiba realised the severity of the impact Jounouchi's father's death had on the boy's mental state, and what he had gotten himself into.

"Why did you bring me here?" he heard Jounouchi ask, his voice still deathly quiet, the contrast from his usual boisterous and loud self uncanny.

This was something Seto also wanted to know. Just why had he brought him here?

"Not long after I found you, you passed out. I wasn't sure how serious your condition was, and seeing as how the nearest hospital is on the other side of the city, I thought it would more logical to bring you back here were I could phone my private doctor who lives near by and let him treat you. Luckily you don't have hypothermia, but as you can probably tell, you have the flu which is apparently a combination of being both outside in the cold and not taking care of yourself. Idiot, you should at least try and eat properly. Can't you even take care of yourself?"

Katsuya didn't reply, finding it all too hard to believe. Since when would Kaiba Seto ever willingly bring him into his home? It also sounded that Kaiba was somewhat concerned for him; though he was pretty sure it was the general fuzziness of the flu making him think this.

There was a knock on the door, and in entered what Katsuya assumed to be a servant. He held a glass of water in his hand which he then handed to Kaiba, or that's what he could tell from looking out of the corner of his eye. The man left straight away.

"You should try and drink something." stated Kaiba, holding the glass out to him. But, the thought of drinking or eating anything at this moment in time made Katsuya's stomach turn.

"No, thanks." he replied, grimacing at how weak his own voice sounded.

"Idiot, you won't get any better if you're dehydrated." said the blue eyed boy irritably, now pushing the glass closer to him.

Without saying anything, Katsuya reluctantly took it as from the tone of Kaiba's voice it sounded as if he was angry, and with the state he was in right now, he really wasn't up to getting into an argument with him. Although swallowing it was difficult at first, by the time he had finished he felt a little refreshed.

"Uh, thanks." he said, feeling somewhat embarrassed as he handed Kaiba the glass back.

Kaiba took it and then there was silence, Katsuya feeling more and more awkward by the second. "I-I guess, I should go home now…"

"You're in no fit state to go home." Kaiba retorted. "By my guess, you're probably likely to be unable to stand up properly."

"I can too!" yelled Katsuya, a sudden burst of defiance returning. He may have felt like his head was splitting in two and wanted to throw up again, but he could damn well walk!

With a bit of effort he managed to push himself and wing his feet off of the bed. Okay, maybe it would be a little harder than he thought. Slowly he started to pull himself up, only to be pushed back down by Kaiba. "What the hell are you doing?!" he demanded. Suddenly he burst into a fit of coughs.

"Idiot dog, that's what happens when you overexert yourself and get excited." Katsuya just glared, unable to reply due to the coughing up of his lungs. "Since I brought you here, I suppose you can stay until you recover, despite how inconvenient it will be. Consider it a rare case of generosity on my part." stated Kaiba, a smirk suddenly appearing on his lips.

"Why?" Katsuya asked when he had finally stopped choking. "I thought you hated me…"

The other boy didn't reply, merely staring for a few moments before he started to walk away.

"Kaiba-" Katsuya began, when all of a sudden everything around him started to turn hazy to the point were he could barely even make Kaiba out. "Kai-"

The brunette stopped in front of the door but didn't turn around. "If you're wondering, I put some sleeping pills in your water. You need more rest, and to be perfectly frank, I don't have the time be dealing with you right now."

With that, Kaiba faded from his vision and for the second time in such a short period, the blond boy faded out of consciousness.

**Authors Notes: **Okay, technically it would have made much more sense for Seto to take Katsuya to an actual hospital but I'm gonna go with the fact that it's the Yugioh world, and things tend not to make much sense in the anime anyway… Oh well, at least Seto explained it.

I hope this chapter was alright. Any advice on how I could improve or and constructive criticism are always welcome. Thank you for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Yugioh, nor do I pretend to do so.

**Stray: Chapter Four**

Fuzzily, Katsuya opened his eyes only to be greeted by a strange mop of black hair and a large pair of eyes peering right at him. The blond haired boy yelped and quickly shovelled away. "A-Alien!"

"Who the hell are you calling an alien?!" yelled a voice angrily.

"Mo-Mokuba?" the confused teen questioned, recognising the younger boy's voice.

"Of course it's me."

Katsuya blinked and then stared for a moment. "What are you doing here?"

"I live here, idiot!"

"Huh?" The teen glanced about swiftly to find that he wasn't in his own bedroom but a room four times the size of his. Then it clicked. "Ah, this is Kaiba's house!"

The raven haired boy let out a sigh. "You really are an idiot…"

Katsuya scowled but decide to let it slide instead concentrating on remembering why he was here. He really wasn't a morning person and unless he was in an absolute rush, it tended to take a few minutes or so before he got his bearings. Sometimes he woke up and couldn't even remember his own name right away.

Kaiba had brought him here. He remembered waking up earlier and asking him why he had done so. However, Kaiba hadn't given him an answer so much as an explanation. He frowned. He had also almost broken down in front of him. So not only had Kaiba seen him in a physically weak state but in addition he had proved just how fragile he was mentally. He wanted to curl up into a small ball and die before he ever saw the other teen again knowing that he would never ever be able to live it down. However, the boy next to the bed quickly awoke him from his sombre reflections.

"I was so surprised when Nii-sama brought you home. I asked him about what happened but he didn't say much, just that he had found you unconscious outside a convenience store on the way home from work. What happened? What where you doing outside in the rain?"

He frowned. "Uh, sorry but I don't really feel like talking about it right now…"

The boy looked slightly disappointed but generally seemed to accept the teen's wishes, deciding not to press the issue. "Anyway, I'm just glad that you're all right Jounouchi. I would have been sad if anything had happened to you."

Katsuya looked up, startled, but upon seeing the kind smile on the boy's face he couldn't stop himself from smiling back. Mokuba really had changed a lot since he first met him on Pegasus' island. Back then, he had thought he was a stuck-up selfish brat, much like his elder brother. But ever since he and Yugi had gone into that virtually reality game to save Kaiba, the kid had been a lot nicer to him. Still a bit of a brat at times but he knew he was good at heart. "Thanks."

"Oh, what time is it? I have to go home and get ready for school."

Mokuba raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about? It's four-thirty in the afternoon. School finished awhile ago."

"What?!" The brown eyed boy cried in shock. "How long have I been asleep for?" Had he really been sleeping all this time with the exception of that short period when he had woken up to find Kaiba in his room? Hell, he didn't even know when that was...

"Nii-sama will be home soon," the boy informed him. "He's just away to pick up some paperwork from Kaibacorp and then he said he'd be right home."

Katsuya grimaced, wishing that he hadn't missed school today. Yugi and everyone were bound to be worried about him when he didn't appear, especially considering he had only started back after two weeks absence yesterday. Knowing Honda, he'd probably stop by his after school, and if he wasn't there…

"Mokuba, I have to go now." he said as he pushed himself up.

"Huh? But why?" the violet eyed boy asked disappointedly.

"Sorry, but I have to take care of a few things."

"Can't you stay a little while longer? Just until Nii-sama gets back?"

"I-"

"You're not going anywhere just yet, mutt."

Surprised he looked up to see Kaiba standing in the doorway.

"What?! But I-" He stopped when he noticed the smartly dressed man next to the millionaire. "Who-Who's that?"

"My Doctor." the brunette stated in a matter-of-fact tone before turning to his younger brother. "Mokuba, what are you doing here? I told you not to come in here."

"Sorry, Nii-sama, I just wanted to see Jounouchi." the younger boy replied sheepishly.

"I see. Dr. Tanaka is going to examine Jounouchi again so would you please leave for now?" It wasn't so much a question as it was an order, but Mokuba definitely wasn't going to question his dear elder brother.

"Ah, yes." He quickly scampered a way before stopping to look back and wave at the blond haired teen. "See ya later, Jounouchi!"

Again Katsuya found himself smiling back, and without even noticing, the Doctor was now standing right next to the bed holding a thermometer right in front of his face.

"Could I check your temperature, please?"

"Ah! Ye-Yeah!" he quickly stuttered before taking the thermometer in his mouth.

A few minutes passed and the doctor eventually removed it.

"Well, it seems that your temperature has decreased quite a bit, but it's still a little high so I would take it easy for the next couple of days. Also, can I ask you, have you been eating and sleeping properly?"

"Huh?" He frowned. In the past two weeks he really hadn't, but he doubted that anyone would have noticed. "Uh, I-"

"It's quite clear that he has not." interrupted Kaiba.

"I see." noted the doctor.

Katsuya wanted to glare at Kaiba for butting in. Didn't doctors usually scold people for answering for their patients? Then again, it was Kaiba Seto and this man was his private physician who no doubt got paid a lot by him...

"Well, I really shouldn't have to explain to you the importance of a healthy diet and getting a set required amount of sleep." stated the middle-aged man.

"S-Sorry." Katsuya added quickly, hoping that he wouldn't go into a full-blown lecture. Luckily for him he didn't, instead opting to check his heart rate.

"Well, apart from your temperature being a little high, everything seems to be fine. Just try to get enough rest from now on and eat well."

"Thank you for your time, Doctor." said Kaiba as he shook the man's hand. "Please allow me to show you the way out."

"That's quite alright. I know my way, Kaiba-san" And with that the man left, leaving he and Kaiba in the room alone.

Seto turned around, setting his gaze on the blond haired boy causing him to feel incredibly uncomfortable. Katsuya's cheeks flushed red, still horribly embarrassed about earlier. He had to get out of here now.

"I take it you slept well?" Seto spoke finally, startling the other teen slightly.

"Uh…yeah. I did." He really had to get out of here. "You didn't need to call the doctor again. I'm fine really."

"Is that so? Then why do you seem incapable of the simple task of taking care of yourself?" There was no hostility in Kaiba's voice, in fact it was pretty much emotionless, but Katsuya was convinced that he was taunting him.

"I can take care of myself just fine! I'm not that pathetic that I need your help!" he growled, a fist clenched under the covers.

"I'm afraid the events of last night beg to differ. You lost the job that was your main source of finance and then I found you slumped outside that store, drenched with rain. I wouldn't exactly call that taking care of ones self."

"Shut up! You don't know anything! I…It's not like I asked you to bring me here! I didn't ask for your help! I would have rather you'd left me there!" he shouted, sitting straight up now.

"And what would you have done if no one else had stopped to help you?" the brunette questioned.

"It wouldn't have mattered!" His eyes widened in realisation of what he had just said. "It…It wouldn't have…" He stared down at the covers, knowing that what he had just said was true. Part of him really wished that Kaiba had just left them there. If he was lucky enough he would have died, then he wouldn't have to deal with all the shit going on in his life. He would finally be free.

Katsuya was not the only one shocked by his words, although it did not show on the other teen's face.

Jounouchi's words from last night echoed in Kaiba Seto's mind. "_I…I really am worthless."_

Despite always referring to him as being useless and a weakling, he never imagined that he would actually admit it. The boy had always been so head-strong, so stubborn; never backing down from a fight. But now… now he sat there in a state of devastation; completely vulnerable.

"Are you really saying that you would rather be dead?" he questioned, unable to comprehend why he felt quite so angry.

The boy didn't reply, his eyes remaining downcast. However, Jounouchi's lack of reaction answered his question. "You really are an idiot."

"_You were right... I…I really am worthless." _

"You certainly show a lot more determination in your duels, even if you are a third-rate duelist." Again, the boy didn't reply, and after a few minutes Kaiba turned his back to leave. He hadn't any time for this.

"Kaiba?"

He stopped and turned around, the boy still looking downcast.

"What?"

"What time is it?"

This wasn't the kind of question that Seto was expecting but he looked down at his watch anyway. "Almost five."

"Huh… I see… I guess I've lost that job too…"

"What?"

"I deliver newspapers after school as well as my job at the convenience store. Mr. Nagai told me he'd only give me my job back as long as I wasn't absent again. So now I only have my weekend job…" Seto found the numbness of the other teen's voice somewhat unnerving compared to his outburst just a few minutes ago. It sounded as if he had given up completely; that he no longer even cared.

"So you have lost both your jobs…" Seto stated out loud, even if it was only to verify it to himself.

"I still have my weekend job, but that won't cover this months rent. Or last months… I still have to pay that, don't I?" The boy continued to mumble on to himself, and Seto was convinced that perhaps he had lost it. Still, given the situation he was in, he found that he couldn't quite blame him. He almost felt sorry for him in a way.

The brunette left the room to collect a few papers and his laptop hoping that by the time he returned the mutt would have stopped murmuring to himself. Thankfully he had.

He set his laptop down on the same table as he had this morning and sat down. The other boy didn't even seem to notice him, his gaze still focusing downwards, looking a nothing in particular. Seto sat down and booted up his laptop. He had much work to do due to his absent-mindedness the day before. Even when he had tried to make up for it last night while the mutt was asleep he still found himself distracted. He had hoped that now that the mutt was awake he would be able to get his work done finally, but again he found himself blankly staring at the computer screen. Mentally he cursed, wishing he had just stayed at Kaibacorp till the work was done. But he had found himself wanting to check up on his unusual guest.

He wanted to say something, the silence strangely grating on his nerves. However, he had no idea what to say in this sort of situation. Usually the only time he ever talked to him was to taunt him, and that really didn't seem appropriate at the moment.

Suddenly he was awoken from his thoughts by a soft rumbling. He looked over at the blond, but he hadn't moved. The noise sounded again and it was then that he realised that it was actually the boy's stomach. Surprisingly the other teen hadn't seemed to have noticed.

"You're hungry." he stated vacantly.

For the first time in what seemed like hours, Katsuya actually looked up. "Huh?" He looked confused for a moment. "Oh, uh, not really…."

It was clearly a lie, but Seto couldn't be bothered in pointing out the obvious. "Mokuba and I will be having dinner soon. I will go alert the chef that you will be joining us."

"What? You don't-" But he had already walked out of the room.

Katsuya sighed. He had no idea what he was still doing here. He knew he should return home to the apartment that would not be his home for much longer, but felt that he hadn't the energy to even move; as if by going home he would be fully acknowledging the situation. Part of him wanted to scamper back under the covers and return to sleep, and maybe when he woke up, despite the improbability, everything would return back to normal.

A few minutes later Kaiba returned, sitting back down in the same place.

"I could have got food when I went home you know." he stated dully.

"Yes, because I'm sure your grubby little apartment is filled with it." the taller teen replied as he started to type away on his laptop.

"I won't be able to pay you for having that old guy look at me, you know." he said in reference to the Doctor.

"Hm. I'm not exactly in a position were I have to worry about mere Doctor Bills."

"I guess not…"

He allowed himself to collapse back against the pillows and glanced up at the far away ceiling. He lay like that for ten minutes or so, just listening to the other boy type. His typing was constant, not even stopping for second. Katsuya wondered if his hands hurt. Probably not. Knowing Kaiba, he could type like that for hours without needing to take even a moment's break. He on the other hand, wasn't very good with computers.

"It doesn't feel real, you know. It's like it's just one big horrible dream."

Seto stopped typing. "I…I'm sorry for your loss. I mean your father."

Katsuya's eyes widened in surprise, turning his head to look at the brunette. His face was expressionless as usual, but somehow he could tell that Kaiba meant what he said.

"Thanks." He turned back to gaze at the ceiling. "I…I was really shocked. But I guess I should have expected it. After all, there's only so much that one person can take, right? In the end, I wasn't able to help him…"

The numbness of the blond's voice while he talked about such matters still caused Seto to feel slightly uneasy.

"What are you going to do now?"

"I don't know…" He really didn't want to discuss it right now. What made it worse was he never though that he would be having this discussion with Kaiba.

"I'm sure you can stay with one of your little friends until you figure something out." Seto was certain that Yugi and those other nameless people he hung around with would offer the mutt aid in a heart beat. Seemingly they were so close that they would even die for each other. Fools. All of them.

"I can't…"

"And why not?"

"I can't… I-I won't bother them with such things. They've done so much for me already. I can't ask them to do anymore." He tried to sound firm but his voice was still broken. He wondered how long it would be before he started to sound like his usual self.

Again, Seto was surprised by his response, and while slightly impressed by his integrity to not cause problems for his friends, in this situation he really didn't have the luxury of doing so.

"Then just what do you propose to do? If you can't even pay this month's rent let alone last month's then any intelligent landlord would evict you. So where do you plan to live, then? A cardboard box?"

There was no reply. The teen clearly hadn't thought it through. Not that he had had that much time to…

"I-I…"

There was a knock in the door and in walked Seto's younger brother.

"Mokuba, could you come back later? We're talking." Usually he wouldn't have minded his brother, but his curiosity was piped and he didn't expect Jounouchi to divulge such information with the younger boy here.

"But dinner's ready. If you don't come it'll get cold!" declared the raven haired boy.

"Alright, alright. We'll be down in a minute." replied Seto, giving in. The younger boy nodded and quickly left.

The brunette turned back to the boy in bed. "Well, are you coming?"

"Huh? Oh, uh yeah."

Throwing the covers aside, he stood up. He still felt a bit dizzy but nothing compared to earlier. They both started to leave when suddenly Kaiba turned around, only a few inches away from him.

"I'm going to offer you a piece of advice. Think hard about what you plan to do. It is admirable that you do not wish to bother others with your affairs, but if you don't accept some help, you'll be out on the streets. And employers are not likely to seek those with no home address, myself included." Seto knew that it was hypocritical of him to say given that he hated anyone trying to help him, but it was the truth. There was no other way for the mutt to survive.

Without saying anything else, he turned and walked out the room leaving the other teen standing there.

"I-I know that." he spoke, barely a whisper.

Slowly, he followed after him.

**Author's Notes: **I apologise for the long periods between updates. From now on I'll try and update this fic more often. Anyway, I hope this chapter was alright. Any advice on how I could improve or constructive criticism is always welcome. Thanks for reading!


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Yugioh, nor do I pretend to do so.

**Stray: Chapter 5**

The blond found it difficult not let out a sound of awe as he entered the dining room. It was gigantic, just like the ones you saw in the movies. They even had one of those ridiculously long tables. However, unlike the films, Kaiba and his brother did not sit at opposite ends of the table.

Allowing his mind to wander for a minute, Katsuya pondered the difficulty of trying to hold conversations from that far away. _It would suck having to yell all the time just to talk to someone…_

"Are you going to sit down or are you just going to stand there all day?"

He awoke from his thoughts to find Kaiba glaring at him, and embarrassed he quickly took the seat next to Mokuba.

Two servants entered a couple of moments later placing their food and drinks on the table. The food looked delicious and despite his stomach's urging for him to dig in, he felt somewhat guilty.

"Jounouchi, what's the matter?" questioned Mokuba. "Usually you're a pig when it comes to food."

In a normal situation he would have lost it and yelled at the kid for referring to as a pig, but he restrained himself, realising the position he was in. "Is it really okay for me to eat all this?"

The younger boy appeared confused. "Huh? What are you talking about?"

"Just shut up and eat." interrupted Kaiba before taking a sip of his drink.

"But…"

"I'll have to take offence if you somehow believe that I won't be able to spare a couple of morsels of food for a stray mutt."

The brown eyed boy glared daggers at him and responded by shoving a large piece of meat in his mouth.

Seto smirked to himself. It was so easy to get the mutt riled up.

* * *

The rest of the meal consisted of Mokuba talking about school and such. Katsuya however wasn't paying much attention. Instead Kaiba's words from earlier weighed on his mind.

_Yugi…Honda… I can't ask them for help. They've done so much for me already. Besides, Honda's apartment isn't much bigger than mines and that's with both parents and a younger brother. There's no way I could stay there. And I couldn't oppose on Yugi's family either. I'm sure Grampa wouldn't mind, but I've only met his parents once. But besides that…_

"Hey, are you alright?" He looked up to see the raven haired boy peering at him curiously. "Are you still sick? You keep spacing out, and you haven't even finished your dinner."

"Ah! Sorry, I'm fine really." he stated, trying to sound like his normal cheerful self. But from the look on the kids face he could tell that he had failed miserably.

All of a sudden Kaiba stood up. "Mokuba, your grades at school have been very good recently. How about we celebrate with some dessert?"

"Really?!"

His brother nodded. "Yes. Why don't you go tell the chef what you'd like."

The younger boy got up excitedly. "Sure!"

It amused Katsuya that despite how mature Mokuba acted, he was still just a kid, and what kid didn't love desserts?

When the boy was out of sight, Seto sat down and glanced at Katsuya. "I take it you're pondering what to do?" The other teen didn't reply, but Seto took it as a yes. "You should probably make some sort of arrangement with one of your friends before this month's rent is due so that when you finally get kicked out, you will have somewhere to go."

"Kai-Kaiba… I understand what you're saying but…" he paused. "I can't."

"Yugi… Honda… Everyone. I know they'd all be there to help me out, but… I don't want to put them in that position. They all have their own problems to deal with, and I don't want to burden them with mines. I don't want them to worry about me. And if that means having to live on the streets, struggling to get by then I'll do it. Hell, I've been a burden to you since last night."

The brunette sighed. "Yes, you have been a burden. However, I doubt those idiot friends of yours would view you as one."

"Maybe… But I promised myself that I would try not to be a bother to the people I care about anymore."

Seto couldn't help but eye the boy with suspicion. Yesterday he had found him broken, torn up inside from his father's dead, and now he was acting so self-reliant, seemingly unwilling to accept anyone's help. Why the sudden change?

"Um… I never thought I'd say this, but I guess I should thank you." He started scratching the back of his head, and Seto noted his obvious embarrassment. "So, uh, thank you."

Kaiba didn't reply. Not that Katsuya had expected him too. "I guess I should go now…" he said, standing up.

"Jounouchi!" Katsuya looked over to see that Mokuba had returned. "You're going?! But the chef will have dessert ready any minute! You're staying for that, aren't you?"

"Uh, yeah, sure." He didn't quite know why, but he had a strange weakness for kids, and so found himself sitting back down. Inwardly he sighed.

* * *

Not long after dessert came and Katsuya had to admit that it tasted delicious. It had been so long since he had tasted something so sweet, and although he would never admit it anyone in fear of sounding un-masculine, he loved sweet things.

"That was delicious, Mokuba! The meal too." remarked the blond, feeling completely stuffed.

"Yeah, our chef is great! I'll tell him you liked it." replied the younger boy, finishing off his dessert. I'm glad you stayed for dinner, Jounouchi. It's been so long since someone had dinner with us, right, Nii-sama?"

Kaiba responded with a simple 'hmm'.

"You'll come over for dinner again sometime, ne?"

"Uh…" He didn't want to say no, but highly doubted Kaiba would willingly invite him over for dinner. Even him being here right now was like something out of that old show, the twilight zone.

"Jounouchi." The blond looked over to find Kaiba staring straight at him, a scarily serious look on his face – even more so than usual.

"Mokuba, would you please leave us for now."

"Huh? Oh, okay." Again, the boy looked disappointed but did what he was told.

"See ya, later Jounouchi."

And then he was gone leaving Katsuya fearing for his life while Kaiba continued glaring at him.

"Jounouchi."

"Ye-Yeah?"

"I respect your decision to not be of any trouble to your friends and deal with the situation on your own. However, be that as it may, you will still find yourself without a place to live very soon and an ever increasing amount of debt."

He frowned. He couldn't argue with Kaiba about that.

"So I've decided that for the time being you can-" he paused for a moment seemingly trying to regain his composure. "You can stay here."

"…" Katsuya simply stared back.

"Well, aren't you going to say anything?"

"I-I can what?"

"Stupid dog, do I really need to repeat myself?" replied the brunette, trying to repress a sigh.

"What do you mean I can stay here?" Katsuya slowly began to wonder if perhaps Kaiba had been abducted by aliens and replaced by a somewhat nicer clone. Or perhaps the clone just hadn't gotten all of Kaiba's characteristics down quite yet. _Hell, weirder things have happened. _

Kaiba now appeared quite frustrated. At least the 'clone' managed to mimic his temper. "What I mean is that you can stay here for a short period until you get back on your feet."

Katsuya couldn't believe what the other teen was saying. Kaiba was actually offering to let him stay in his house? To say that the boy was shocked would be an understatement.

"I…I don't understand."

"It's quite simple. You either take my offer or you do not." Seto stated in his usual matter-of-fact tone. The mutt's shock and general idiocy was grating on his nerves, and frankly it was making him feel even more awkward, although he absolutely refused to show it.

Desperately Katsuya wanted to ask the question of 'why', but was sure that it would just cause the brunette to become angry. He still didn't even know why Kaiba had helped him last night. "Thank you for your offer. But….I-I just don't have the money to pay you to live here."

"I know that."

"But then-"

"We'll figure something out."

"Kaiba…"

"You can stay in the guestroom you where sleeping in before. You may bring a few of your belongings to keep in your room while placing the rest of your possessions in storage until you leave here. Do you accept my offer?"

Katsuya thought for a moment. Staying with his arch-rival, the guy who constantly degraded and taunted him? That was insane. This… this was insane!

"It's that or live on the dirty streets. Either way it makes no real difference to me."

His eyes widened for a moment. "I…" He took a deep breath. "I accept your offer." In the end he had no choice.

"Very well. However, if you are to stay here there is once condition you must follow."

"What's that?"

"You cannot tell anyone including your idiotic friends that you are staying here."

"Huh? You-You want me to lie to them?"

"You don't have to lie, just cease to mention that you are staying here. After all, I wouldn't want anyone to know that I've decided to take in a pathetic stray mutt."

"What did you say?!" yelled blond boy, standing up and slamming his hands on the table.

"You certainly want things repeated a lot, don't you?"

"If you don't want anyone knowing that you've taken in a 'pathetic stray mutt' as you've put it, then why in the hell are you allowing me to stay here?!"

"As disgusting as people can be, I am a humanitarian and so now and then I'll do my odd share of charity. So I've decided why not help a poor puppy who had lost his way?"

"You….You're a _bastard, _you know that!"

"And yet this 'bastard' is the only one willing to help you. Unless, of course, you want to go running off to one of your little friends?"

Katsuya gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. More than anything, he wanted to punch Kaiba Seto square in the jaw, but part of him knew that what he was saying was true. It was this or live on the streets. Having past experiences in gangs, Katsuya knew of the horrors that went on in the streets, but to actually live there without a home to return to would be a nightmare.

Slowly he unclenched his fists, letting his arms fall limp. "Okay. I understand." He found himself unable to look the other teen in the eye.

"Hmm. Then I shall instruct one of my drivers to take you to your apartment to gather some clothes and belongings, and as I said earlier, the rest of your things can be put in storage."

"What? You mean I have to move out right now?"

"There is no point of you spending another week or so in that dingy little apartment only to face the shame of being tossed out by your landlord."

"I guess your right…"

"Very well. Then I'll give you the money you owe your landlord." And with that, Seto got up and walked away, leaving Katsuya standing there, his head spinning

* * *

Glancing around quickly to make sure that no one was around, Seto sighed and placed his hand on his face, unable to believe what he had just done. Exactly just what had came over him? Why was he allowing that idiotic dog to stay in his house? What's more was that he was the one who had invited him. What could have possibly possessed him to do such a thing? And it was too late to take it back as he had already sent the mutt to his apartment to gather his things. He was furious with himself. If he had just taken him to the hospital or left him lying there last night, he would be free of this burden. But for some reason since seeing the tears in his eyes when he had bumped into him in the hall at school yesterday, he was unable to get the third-rate duelist out of his head. His words last night as he lay on the ground, they had struck a cord, and for the life of him he could not figure out why.

_It all changed when that mutt's father died. But why?_

"Nii-sama."

Seto was instantly awoken from his thoughts and turning around found his brother standing there behind him. "Mokuba…"

"Nii-sama, are you alright?" asked the raven haired boy, appearing worried. "I called you twice."

"I'm fine, don't worry."

Despite still looking uneasy, he nodded. "Where's Jounouchi? Has he left already?"

"Yes, but he will be returning soon."

"Huh? Do you mean he'll be joining us for dinner again?"

"Actually he is going to be staying here with us for awhile."

The younger boy looked shocked. "Wh-What? You mean he's going to be living with us?"

"In a manner of speaking. Do you have any objections?"

"Uh-"

All of a sudden, Seto was hit by a realisation. "Mokuba, I'm sorry. I should have discussed the matter with you before allowing him into our house. If you have any problem-"

"Uh, no, no!" he yelled, interrupting his elder brother. "I-I'm just surprised that's all. I really like Jounouchi and it will be great having him around, it's just… Nii-sama, it's unlike you to invite someone to stay."

"There's more to it than that. The idiot's managed to loose his jobs and with the vast debt left to him by his father, he would get kicked out of his apartment in no time." he stated disdainfully.

"I heard about Jounouchi's dad…" replied Mokuba sadly. "But I didn't want to bring it up around him. He must be taking it really hard. Poor Jounouchi… Is that the reason he was out in the rain last night?"

The brunette's eyes widened for a moment, surprised at his younger brother's insight. "That's part of the reason, yes."

The violet eyed boy smiled suddenly. "Anyway, I'm glad that you and Jounouchi have become friends."

"Don't misunderstand, Mokuba. We are not friends. To me he is still a filthy mutt and a third-rate duelist. However, by taking him in, he will finally realise that he can not compare. He needs to understand his place in the world and act accordingly."

"Nii-sama…" Despite his harsh tone, Mokuba knew his brother well enough to realise that his words were not entirely truthful. Nonetheless, pointing out such a thing would be futile and so for now he decided to stay quiet.

"I understand, Nii-sama."

"Forgive me, Mokuba but I must return to my work. That worthless dog has wasted enough of my time already. I shall be in my study, please tell one of the house keepers to inform me of when he returns."

The boy nodded and watched as his brother walked away. _Nii-sama__…_

* * *

It was raining again, just as it had been the night before, and Katsuya found himself wondering if the rain had even stopped at all since then. He sighed, finding everything too difficult to take in. He had just been to his apartment for the last time and was on his way back to Kaiba's in one of the teen's fancy limos. It still didn't feel real. One minute he was attending school laughing with his friends like a normal kid and the next he was being taken in by his archrival. The world sure was a messed up place.

He glanced outside, watching the raindrops trickle down the window. Strangely, despite knowing that it was unlikely that he would never see inside his home again, he didn't feel sad. In fact he didn't feel anything at all. After all, it wasn't really 'home', just a place that he and his father used to live. His real home was back with Shizuka and his mother, when all four of them lived together happily, or as close to happy as could be. In that house while it was painful to remember at times, there were happy memories. However, back in that dingy little apartment there were none to be found. And even if there were, they were all clouded over by his father's suicide.

He winced, remembering the sight of his father's body as he had found it that night. When he had gone to gather some of his belongings he found himself unable to enter the living room, for going in there would be like saying goodbye forever to him. _Dad…_

The car stopped and the driver announced their arrival. Hulling his bag over his shoulder he got out. While the nameless driver rushed inside trying to avoiding getting wet, Katsuya stood there for a minute simply to feel the rain against his cheeks. He glanced up at the mansion and took a deep breath before setting forward. _Well, here's to the beginning of a new life…_

**Author's Notes: **Sorry for the slow pace of the story. I'm just trying to capture how Katsuya feels and his reactions from his father's death to suddenly moving in with a guy he claims to hate.

Anyway, thank you lots for reading. Any advice on how I could improve or constructive criticism is always welcome.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Yugioh, nor do I pretend to do so.

**Stray: Chapter 6**

By the time Katsuya entered the house he was soaked right down to his skin. He shivered slightly as he closed the door behind him.

"Jounouchi, you're soaked!" cried a voice.

He looked over to see the younger brother of Kaiba Seto standing beside the staircase.

"Ah, I'm okay." The blond replied. "Although I guess I better get changed."

The boy nodded. "I'll take you to your room. Come on."

With that, he started to lug his suitcase up the long winding staircase, and found himself weeping inside that the mansion didn't have an elevator.

"Did you get everything you need? Nii-sama said he'll send some people over tomorrow to collect the rest of your stuff to put into storage."

Mokuba took him to the same room he had slept in before. He was surprised however to see Kaiba still in the room working on his laptop.

"Well, I guess I'll see you later. I still have some homework to do." The raven haired boy said sourly. "Hey, I'll show you the new game I got tomorrow after school, okay?!"

Katsuya smiled. "Sure."

As he watched the younger boy scamper away, he found himself suddenly got off guard as he sneezed. "Aw, man." he grumbled as he wiped the mucus on to his sleeve.

"You're drenched." A voice said, startling him. The other teen was so quiet that he kept on forgetting about his presence.

"Just a little." he laughed.

"Idiot. The Doctor told you to be careful. Do you want to become sick again?" Katsuya found him feeling slightly uneasy as he noted the surprisingly angry edge to Kaiba's voice.

"Oh. Uh, sorry."

The brunette didn't say anything as he wandered into the walk-in bathroom and returned with a towel which he then tossed towards him.

"Dry yourself off and get changed. Better yet, have a shower. You're probably filthy."

Katsuya opened his mouth to argue. However, the thought of a nice warm shower did seem very appealing.

Closing down and picking up his laptop, Kaiba walked past him stopping at the door. "I assume that you'll be attending school tomorrow?"

"Yeah. I really can't afford to miss anymore school." he thought miserably, realising just how far behind on his school work he must be.

"I see." And with that, Kaiba shut the door and left, leaving the soaked boy standing there; the water caught on his clothes dripping on to the carpet.

Taking aboard the other teen's suggestion, he quickly shrugged off his clothes and climbed into the shower. As he suspected, the bathroom was westernised, much like the rest of the house. He didn't have a shower in his apartment and so relished the hot water pouring down his skin. It felt like heaven, and finding it difficult to give up such warmth, stayed in there for almost an hour.

After drying off, he stuck on an old t-shirt and pair of shorts and flopped down on the bed. Strangely, despite having slept all last night and this afternoon, he still found himself pretty tired. He let out a loud yawn and decided that he would leave it till tomorrow before he unpacked his things. Not that he had very much with him of course. Still, there was one thing he couldn't leave cooped up in his back and so scampered off the bed and grabbed his bag.

A small smile touched his lips as he gazed down at the object in his hands. It was a photo frame containing a picture of his younger sister Shizuka. However, his smile soon faded, being replaced by a frown. Just as with Yugi and the others, he doubted that Kaiba would allow him to tell Shizuka that he was staying at his for the time being. He had lied to her so much already that lying anymore felt like some horrible crime which should be punished by death.

"I'm sorry, Shizuka." he whispered as he placed the frame down on the bedside table. "I'll call you soon, I promise."

He snuggled into bed and closed his eyes. However, despite his tiredness, he got very little sleep that night.

* * *

The next morning Katsuya felt like death. Not only had he received little sleep that night but had also been rudely awoken at the crack of dawn - okay, six am – by one of Kaiba's servants. Sleepily he had asked for ten more minutes but the man's response was to strip the bed of its covers leaving him feeling cold and exposed. Although a contradiction in terms, the teen found himself too tired to fight for his right to sleep longer and so reluctantly got up. While he had praised the heavens for the nice warm shower just the night before, this morning he found it to be a curse; the lovely hot water almost forcing him back to sleep. With no other choice, he was forced to do the exact opposite and experience one of the most horrible experiences any person could have happen to them – a freezing cold shower.

Even now at the dinner table he shivered at the memory.

"Jounouchi are you alright?" Mokuba asked curiously as he stuffed a fried egg into his mouth. It seemed that they had western style breakfasts here unlike what Katsuya was used to.

"I'm too tired to eat anything." he replied before letting out a huge yawn.

"How come? Didn't you sleep well last night?"

"Not really… Anyway, what the hell was with having someone wake me up at six am?!" the blond demanded, turning now to look at the older Kaiba.

The other teen barely seemed to take any notice of his unusual guess; taking his time to butter his toast before dignifying him with a reply. "This is the time Mokuba and I awake for school every morning, and since you are a freeloader living in my house, I expect you to follow whatever conditions I lay down for you."

Katsuya glowered at him, although still tired he didn't put much effort into it.

"Anyway, I suggest you eat something before you have to leave."

"Huh? I still have plenty of time." he replied, gazing down at his watch.

"You really should eat, Jounouchi. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day!" The raven haired boy declared cheerfully before taking a bite out of his French toast. Katsuya really had no idea how the hell the kid could be so energetic at this time in the morning, especially when he was only going to school.

Pushing his plate aside, Kaiba suddenly stood up. "Mokuba, I will be leaving now. I have a few things to take care at Kaibacorp before school."

"Ah! Nii-sama, wait for me! I need to leave now too. I- uh arranged to meet a friend early this morning before school starts."

"Very well. Quickly grab your school things and we'll leave." The boy swiftly darted off.

"Eh? But it's only just turning seven. School doesn't start for another hour and a half!"

"Unlike you mutt, I have things I need to do. You can leave for school whenever you so wish. However, it is a somewhat long walk so I suggest that you do not take too long before leaving."

"Huh? You mean I'm not getting a ride with you to school?" And with that question, the other teen's eyes grew dark all of a sudden.

"You may be staying here for the time being, but I do not wish to be seen with you. Just as you will not tell your friends that you are staying here, outside these walls I will not associate with you. With the exception of the classroom and this house where I am forced to suffer you, your existence is dead to me."

"If you hate me so much then why the hell are you letting me stay here in the first place!? You don't make any sense!"

A smirk brushed across the other teen's lips. "I do not need to explain myself to the likes of you."

"You bas-"

"Nii-sama, I'm ready!" cried Mokuba as he came hurrying back, his bag thrown over his shoulder.

"Then let us leave." stated the older Kaiba before turning and walking away.

"I'll see you later Jounouchi. Oh, and I'll show you the game I mentioned last night after school." Mokuba said before hurrying to catch up with his brother, oblivious to the fury on Katsuya's face.

The blond boy waited five minutes or so before angrily tossing his bag over his shoulder and making the unfamiliar trip to school.

* * *

By the time Katsuya arrived at school he felt quite tired, cursing his lack of sleep and his decision not to have any breakfast that morning. Luckily however he still had some time before class began so he could probably catch a little sleep. His desk certainly wasn't the most comfy of places but that had never stopped him before.

"Jounouchi!" However, his quest for sleep was instantly interrupted as three figures hurried over to his desk.

"Jounouchi! Are you alright?!" cried Honda placing his hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, when you didn't turn up to school yesterday we were really worried about you." added the smallest of the three.

Horribly tired and still trying to process the fact he was now living with his arch-rival, Katsuya had completely forgotten about the reactions of his friends.

"Oh, no I'm fine! My- uh head was killing me yesterday. That's why I never came to school." The blond replied, forcing a smile on to his face as he frantically tried to come up with an excuse. Kaiba had made it quite clear that he didn't want anyone knowing that he was staying with him, and Katsuya really didn't want to find out the consequences of breaking his word to the millionaire.

"How come you didn't answer your phone." asked Anzu worriedly. "We even went over to your apartment but there was no reply."

"Sorry. I spent most of the day asleep." he replied innocently, scratching the back of his head. "So I guess that's why I never heard the phone or you guys at the door."

Honda sighed. "Well, you do sleep like a log. An earthquake probably wouldn't wake you."

"I'm sorry, guys."

"Don't worry about it. We're just happy that you're alright." said Yugi cheerfully.

"Of course I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, you did run out of class pretty fast the other day…" stated Honda, a frown on his face. "We decided not to bother you that night and give you sometime alone, but when you didn't turn up to school yesterday we started to get worried."

Katsuya's face quickly followed suit with Honda's. "I really am sorry. I didn't mean to make-"

"Hey, don't worry about it, man! Like Yugi said, we're just glad that you're okay." he said as he patted him roughly on the back.

Although it was small, a genuine smile spread across Katsuya's face. He truly was lucky to have such amazing friends.

"Here." said Anzu as a pile of papers was tossed on his desk. He gave her a confused look. "It's Monday's and yesterdays homework."

"Aw man, I completely forgot about that!" Feeling like he was about to break into tears, he noticed something.

"Wait. All the answers are filled in here."

"Well, I figured that you wouldn't do your homework and you're already behind as it is with being absent those two weeks…"

Now he felt like was about to cry for joy. "Anzu!"

"Look, don't thank me. I just wouldn't be able to forgive myself if I let one of my friends fail High School."

"It that's how you feel then how come you didn't let me copy your homework!" yelled Honda.

"You were here when we went over the material in class. You should take responsibility for your own education."

"Huh? That's totally unfair!"

Katsuya's smiled widened as he watched his two friends bicker while Yugi tired to calm them down. He really did miss times like these. Joking and laughing with his friends felt like a distant memory but now as he was here experiencing it again, he felt a ray of happiness well up inside him.

From the corner of his eye he saw the classroom door being opened and in walked Kaiba Seto. At that moment the happiness he felt quickly faded, replaced with anxiety.

Katsuya's eyes followed him as he walked across the classroom and took a seat at his desk. Kaiba hadn't seemed to have noticed him staring or if he did he chose to ignore it. He turned back around to his friends who were still arguing, fighting the urge to glance back over at Kaiba. Yes, things were about to become very awkward from now on.

* * *

that day took forever to come. Maybe it was because he generally disliked school but he had the sinking feeling it was mainly because he was absolutely starving. However, when he was in the lunch line he discovered that he had forgotten to bring any money and so was forced to borrow some from Honda and Yugi. It wasn't much money he took but he still felt guilty. Especially when it came to Yugi considering the guy had already given him his entire amount of prize money to pay for his sister's eye operation. He did fully intend to pay his friend back someday even though he knew Yugi didn't expect him to. How he would get the money to pay back him back though was entirely different matter…

Seeing as he was treated to lunch, he offered to clear away everyone's rubbish and so picking up the empty packets quickly headed to the door. However the second he was about to leave he found a figure blocking his way. This figure of course happened to be none other than Kaiba Seto.

"Kai-Kaiba…"

"Would you get out of my way, mutt."

"Oh, uh…" Without thinking, he took a step back and Kaiba brushed past him without a second glance.

"Goddamnit, that guy is such an asshole!" cursed Honda, furiously. "He could have at least asked politely. Then again, who the hell am I kidding, it's Kaiba."

"Come on Honda, he's not that bad." Yugi piped in.

"He totally is. Man, I still don't get how a prick like that manages to get his own band of fan-girls."

For some reason Katsuya's ears pricked up when he heard this. "Fan-girls?"

"It's mostly the younger students who fawn over him, but he still has own fans in our year. He's cold to everyone, even them. So why the hell do they still worship him?" the taller boy sighed distraughtly.

"I heard that some of the students even have a club dedicated to him." Anzu added.

"Okay, now I think I'm gonna have to kill myself."

For some reason, Katsuya found himself wondering if Kaiba knew about all the girls who obsessed over him. He had a feeling that he probably did know but like most people chose to ignore them.

Like Honda, he felt jealous. Although he had kids run up to him now and again and tell him how awesome he was, - being one of the best duelists in the world and all - it didn't apply to the female species who when it came to that stuff really couldn't give a damn. He guessed that the main reason for their love of Kaiba stemmed from the fact that at such a young age he owned his own multi-millionaire company. He was also a fairly attractive guy; probably the nicest looking one in school for that matter...

At that moment, Katsuya instantly stopped his thought process. Oh God. He had just thought of Kaiba as being attractive!

"Ahh! What the hell is wrong with me!?"

"Jounouchi, are you alright?"

"What's wrong?"

Slowly the blond boy looked around to find just about every student in the classroom staring at him. Crap. He had just yelled that out loud.

"Oh, um, I'm fine." he laughed pathetically. "Oh, look. I better throw this stuff away." And with that, he quickly ran out of the classroom, his face bright red.

* * *

**  
Author's Notes: **Sorry again for taking so long between updates. Thank you to everyone who is still reading! Constructive criticism or any advice on how I could improve would be greatly appreciated. 


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer:**I do not own Yugioh, nor do I pretend to do so.

**Stray: Chapter 7**

By the time Katsuya returned to Kaiba's, he was absolutely exhausted, wanting nothing more than to fall down on his bed – okay, it wasn't really _his _bed, more like a bed he was currently occupying during this awkward situation – and go straight to sleep. However, fate had different plans as he was frantically greeted by a giant mop of black hair.

"Jounouchi! Where were you?!"

The teen found himself slightly taken back by the irritation in the younger boy's voice. "Uh, I was-"

"Nii-sama and I were really worried about you!"

Somehow Katsuya doubted that Kaiba would be worried about him but chose not to say anything, still surprised by the younger boy's outburst.

"Sorry. I-I was out job hunting."

The young boy's face contorted for a moment and Katsuya took a step back. But instead of another outburst, it was replaced with a smile. "Oh. That's okay then!"

The blond boy let out a sigh of relief.

"You arrived just in time though. We were about to start eating dinner without you."

"Eh? But it's already after eight! You guys haven't had dinner yet?" he cried in shock.

"Well, Nii-sama and I wanted to wait for you."

"Correction, Mokuba, you wanted to wait for this useless mutt."

Katsuya turned around to see Kaiba standing there, his usual unreadable expression on his face.

"In future, please tell me if you are going to go off gallivanting so that I do not again have to waste my time waiting for you. Unlike you, I have my own company which needs managing. I am a very busy man."

Usually Katsuya would put up a fight but at the moment he was way too tired to argue so settled with mumbling a quiet apology.

"As our _esteemed _guest has finally decided to join us, I shall inform the chef to bring out dinner." The blond stuck his tongue out as Kaiba turned and walked away, a childish response he knew, but it was to make up for his lack of arguing.

"Don't mind Nii-sama, he's just a little stressed from work."

He was tempted to point out to the younger Kaiba that his elder brother was always like this but this time held his tongue.

As they went and sat down at the dinning table, Mokuba finally asked the dreaded question about how the job searching went causing Katsuya to let out a loud groan and bang his head gently against the table.

"Um, I guess not good then?"

"I went around half of Domino today looking for work and every place is either 'currently not hiring' or I'm 'not what they're looking for', which isn't surprising considering I haven't even finished High School yet." He let out a loud sigh. "It's hopeless."

"Well, at least you still have the rest of Domino to go about looking for a job, right?" the younger boy pointed out, hoping to cheer him up.

Katsuya on the other hand really didn't want to think about the other half of town as all that was left was the 'richie part of town' as he referred to it as and way down downtown were the only job that would really be available to him would be to whore himself out as a male prostitute, and there was no way on hell he was doing something like that.

He slumped down further. It was truly and utterly hopeless.

"I see that the mutt has not even been taught proper table etiquette." spoke Kaiba as he pulled up a chair and sat down.

"So far, Jounouchi's not had any luck finding a job." replied Mokuba, patting the teen on the back in what was no doubt intended to be a comforting gesture.

"I see."

"Ah! Nii-sama! I have idea! Why don't you give Jounouchi a job at Kaibacorp?"

At this, Katsuya instantly shot up. "What?! Work for Kaiba!? No way!"

"Unfortunately, Mokuba, I doubt I would have anything quite suited for him." replied the brunette, seemingly also surprised by his brother's suggestion.

"But there has to be something! I mean just look at how desperate and pathetic Jounouchi is."

The blond's eyebrow twitched. "Thanks, kid."

Kaiba let out a sigh. "I suppose there might be something… I do have the post to cover of an employee who recently left to pursue other things."

"Great!"

"Hey, wait a minute! Don't I get a say in this!" cried Jounouchi, standing up and crossing his arms. "There's no way in hell I want Kaiba to be my boss!"

"But then how do you expect to pay my brother back for letting you stay here if you don't have a job? And how will you be able to afford to move out and get your own apartment?" questioned Mokuba innocently.

A bead of sweat ran down his face. "Uh- Well…that is…" He sank back down into his chair.

"Well, I guess that settles it then. From now on you'll be working for Nii-sama." Mokuba said cheerfully, a devilish grin suddenly appearing on his face.

Dinner arrived a couple of minutes later and while the younger boy ate away happily, both teens couldn't help but feel that they had somehow been manipulated.

As soon as he had finished his dinner, Mokuba left the table leaving the pair alone. While Katsuya was annoyed at the kid for getting him a job a Kaibacorp, he was even more pissed off that he had gone and left him with Kaiba who at the moment he couldn't even look at for some reason.

"Well, I have work to attend to." said Kaiba as he stood up. "I suppose I shall see you tomorrow as my newest employee." The blond twitched, staring down at his food. "Funny isn't it, mutt? First I'm your landlord, now your boss. I may as well just become your master."

"What!?" he spat, looking up to see an amused expression on the usually empty face. A blush spread across his cheeks and he sunk back down. "Bastard…"

"Now, is that anyway to talk your new boss? I expect that from now on you shall refer to me as 'Kaiba-sama'."

"Like hell I will!"

"I can see why no one would hire you with such disrespect. How unfortunate that I get saddled with such a useless dog."

"Can it, Kaiba! It's not like I want to work for you!"

"But you have no choice, do you?"

Katsuya went silent. It was true. He had no choice. First he was forced to move in with the bastard, now he was dependent on the guy for work. Fate sure was cruel, and if there was some kind of God out there, he was convinced that he was openly mocking him.

"Your silence says it all really. Well, then, I have no time left to waste on you."

As his new boss walked away, Katsuya cursed relentlessly in mind. Why the hell did his life suck so much?

* * *

He let out a huge yawn as he pulled out a chair to sit down at the table. Yet again he hadn't gotten much sleep that night. As soon as he had returned to his – the room he was currently staying in - it dawned on him that he had two days of homework to catch up on. While Anzu had done last nights for him, he still had to read over it as well as do that night's homework. A couple of hours were spent doing that, and when he finally got to bed he found that he couldn't sleep at all, the conversation from dinner constantly playing in mind. Kaiba was going to be his boss.

_First I'm your landlord, now your boss. I may as well just become your master._

His face turned bright red every time he remembered those words, and even now at breakfast it was still happening.

"Jounouchi are you alright? Your face is all red." Mokuba asked curiously as he buttered his slice of toast.

He sighed in annoyance. "I'm fine." His tone was harsher than he had intended but he still felt somewhat angry at Mokuba for getting him into this mess.

The boy seemed to sense this and remained quiet for most of breakfast, in turn causing Katsuya to feel guilty, knowing that the kid was only trying to help him.

"Hey, Mokuba, you still have to show me that game you were telling me about the other day. I really want to play it."

The raven haired boy seemed to perk up after hearing this. "Yeah! Although I guess it'll have to wait till another day since you'll be working with Nii-sama from today."

"I guess…"

"I'm leaving now, Mokuba. I have things I need to take care of at work. I'll see you tonight." stated Kaiba, as he stood up, and Katsuya wondered if the guy ever had anything to attend to other than work. "I suggest you be at my office at 4 o'clock sharp, mutt. I will not tolerate tardiness."

"How am I supposed to get there?"

"Figure it out."

And without saying anything more he left.

"Figures." The blond boy sighed. "And now I have a huge trek to school."

"I'll give you a lift if you'd like."

"Huh?" Katsuya looked at the younger boy questioningly.

"I usually get a limo to school with Nii-sama but if he has to go to Kaibacorp before school I go to school myself. It'll be no problem to drop you off."

And just like that any previous annoyance towards the boy instantly faded. "Mokuba..."

A bead of sweat ran down the side of the raven haired boy's face noticing that Katsuya looked like he was about to burst into tears. "Really, it's fine… Oh, uh how is Yugi? I haven't seen him for ages!"

"Yeah, he's good. Still helping Jii-san at the game shop."

"I miss him. Hey, we should invite Yugi and your other friends over here sometime!" Mokuba cried excitedly.

"Um, I don't think that'd be a good idea…"

"Huh? How come?"

"Well, they don't actually know that I'm staying here. Kaiba, he told me not to say anything."

A frown appeared on the boy's face. "Nii-sama wouldn't want anything to ruin his reputation." he whispered sadly.

"What?"

"Oh. Nothing. I guess that means they don't know that you'll be working at Kaibacorp then?"

Katsuya shook his head.

"Maybe that's a good thing…"

"What do you mean?"

But the boy never replied; Katsuya unsure whether he just hadn't heard him or was choosing to ignore him.

"So, do you have any idea what I'll be doing at Kaibacorp?" the teen asked curiously, only just realising that he had no idea what Kaiba would have him do.

"No idea. But don't worry. I'm sure Nii-sama won't give you anything bad."

"What do you mean 'bad'?"

"Oh nothing. Hey, I just realised. Now that we have time before school I can show you that game. Come on!" The boy quickly darted off leaving Katsuya with no choice but to follow.

"Kids…" But inside he was really looking forward to playing this game.

* * *

The blond found himself unable to concentrate much at school that day, his mind constantly pondering about what kind of work Kaiba would have him do. He was pretty sure Kaiba wouldn't trust him with anything important. That and he wasn't the most computer literate person in the world owing to the fact that he didn't even own one. He let out a loud sigh.

"Hey, are you okay? That's like the tenth time you've sighed today." Honda pointed out worriedly before taking another bite out of his sandwich.

"Yeah, Jounouchi. Is everything alright?" Anzu asked.

"I'm fine." he laughed. "Just a little tired that's all."

"How has it been being back at work?" Yugi asked curiously.

Katsuya tensed at this. That's right. As well as staying at Kaiba's, they had no idea that he had been fired from his job, not to mention in the most unceremoniously of ways. It was something he tried his hardest to forget about.

"Oh, it's fine." he lied. "Same as always."

"Well remember not to let your boss drive you too hard." said the brown haired girl sternly. "He has to realise that you're a student and you need time to study."

"And relax and spend time with your friends." added Honda. "It's been ages since we all last hung out together. Hey why don't we do something this Sunday. Jou, are you up for it?"

"Oh. I don't know. I might-" Thankfully he was interrupted by a loud ringing. And as his friends all turned around to find the source he thanked the God's. It wasn't that he didn't want to spend time with his friends – Honda was right, it had been too long since they had last hung out – he just had no idea how living at Kaiba's would affect his normal life. It had already been pretty interrupted by the death of his father causing him to go into seclusion for two weeks. Plus he was going to be starting this new job today. He had no idea the hours Kaiba would make him work. But he also knew he needed as many hours as he could get considering he was in such dire need of money.

As it had turned out, the source of the ringing had turned out to come from Kaiba, or his cell phone to be more precise.

Honda scoffed. "Jerk. It's so unfair. We're not allowed our phones on in school while he can answer his whenever he pleases."

"Well he is the CEO of his own company." The smallest of the four pointed out. "I guess he has to leave it on in case of emergencies."

"That may be so, but he's disturbing the rest of the students and interrupting our education."

"It's lunch right now. And since when did you care about you education getting 'interrupted'?" Anzu asked mockingly.

Katsuya wasn't paying much attention to his friends, instead watching Kaiba as he exited the classroom, his phone pressed to his ear. The remark about Kaiba being his master popped into his head again and right on cue he started to blush.

While Honda and Anzu were too busy teasing each other, Yugi seemed to notice, and as usual overreacted.

"Oh my God, Jounouchi! You're face has gone completely red! Are you alright?! Do you feel sick!?"

"I-I'm fine. I just-"

Suddenly a hand was placed against his forehead and glancing up he saw Honda standing over him. "Hey, what are-"

"Hmm. You don't feel hot." commented the tanned teen, removing his hand.

"That's because I feel fine! Honestly you guys worry about me way too much." he retorted letting out an exasperated sigh.

"We're your friends. Of course we're going to worry about you." replied Anzu. "Especially since you were off school ill only a few days ago. Whatever it was making you sick might have not cleared up."

"Anzu's right." added Yugi, looking even more worried than Anzu.

Katsuya knew his friends were concerned for him and only wanted to help but the more they kept questioning if he was alright, the more guilt he felt about having to lie to them.

"_They care about me so much and in return all I can do is lie... Some friend, I am."_

"I'm fine really. I promise. I'm just gonna go out and get some fresh air." said the blond standing up. It's just so stuffy in here that's probably why my face is all red."

"I'll come with you!" cried Yugi also moving to stand up.

"No it's fine. I'll be right back." he replied as he ran off leaving Yugi no time to catch up to him.

The halls were mostly empty with most students in class eating lunch or in the canteen. Sighing he leaned against the wall next to the males toilet. He wasn't sure why but at that moment he felt so incredibly alone to the point that it actually hurt. Perhaps that possessed him to do what he did next.

Kaiba walked past oblivious to him, most likely returning from the phone call outside. For some reason it hurt even more to see Kaiba walk past him without a second glance and so he called out to him. "Kaiba!"

Surprisingly the brunette actually stopped and turned around. "What is it mutt? This better be important." he stated shooting him an icy glare.

The blond gulped. "Uh I, uh-"

"Well?"

"How-How are you?"

"How I am is none of your business." he replied in a tone just as cold as his glare. With that he turned and walked away leaving him alone in the empty hall. And for some reason Katsuya felt like he wanted to cry.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **Nyah. Again I apologise for the delay in updates. Problems in a real-life kind of took over. Anyway, thanks lots for reading. Feedback equals much love! 


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer:**I do not own Yugioh, nor do I pretend to do so.

**Stray: Chapter 8**

Katsuya waited until the bell rang before returning to the classroom, having spent the rest of the lunch period in the bathroom trying to stop himself from shedding anymore tears. In the past two and a half weeks he'd shed enough to last a lifetime; anymore and he'd just be drained. He hated himself for feeling this way; for being so weak. And he hates Kaiba for being… well himself. Sure Kaiba had 'saved' him, allowed him to stay at his home, given him a job, and that was bizarre enough, but to actually seek comfort from the other teen… well the thought was laughable. And Katsuya hated himself for being fooled into believing he could. He couldn't go to Honda and the others for comfort. No. They didn't know. But Kaiba, he did know, yet he couldn't turn to him either. He was completely alone in his suffering, and that terrified him.

The rest of the school day went by fairly quickly, mainly because he was lost in his own head. At the end of the period he was able to quell his friends worry about him being gone the rest of the time by lying and saying that one of their teachers had stopped him in the hall. Lucky for him, they seemed to accept it.

His heart tightened in his chest as he watched Kaiba leave the classroom. He clenched his fists, not wanting to see the jerk ever again. But unlucky for him, he had to go to the very place that Kaiba was going.

Thankfully it didn't take him too long to get to Kaibacorp – even if he was going to be working for Kaiba he hated the though of being late on his very first day. Having talked to Mokuba in the limo that morning he discovered that there was a bus that took people directly to Kaibacorp. Why his bastard of a brother couldn't have told him that, he had no idea, although he had a feeling that it was mostly due to him being a complete bastard...

As with the other times he had been at Kaibacorp he found himself amazed at the size of the place. He smirked after looking down at his watch which read 3:50. It looked like Kaiba wouldn't be able to get on his back for being late. Or so he thought. As a couple of minutes later he found himself completely lost.

Where the hell was the reception!? Shouldn't it have been right at the entrance? He sighed, feeling that Kaiba had made it difficult to find just to spite him.

He glanced at his watch. 4:02. Okay, so he wasn't technically late. He had gotten to the place in time; he was just kind of lost, that was all…

Desks and desks and more desks made up the majority of what Katsuya could see. That and suits and ties. He had been getting a lot of odd looks at he wandered around the place, probably because he wasn't wearing one. He hoped the Kaiba wouldn't make him wear a suit. He only owned one, and that was the suit he had worn to his father's funeral.

"Well I guess I better ask someone how the hell to get to Kaiba's office…"

"Hey you, kid!"

He let out a startled yelp as he felt a powerful hand thump down on to his shoulder. "What the hell are you doing in here?!"

He turned around to see a very huge man to go with the death grip grasp still on his shoulder.

"I-I was looking for Kaiba…" During his gang days he would have told any authority figure to piss off and leave him alone, but this guy was enormous, and he had no doubts that the guy could break him using just his pinky.

"Why the hell would a brat like you want to see the President?" the security guard asked irritably.

"I…uh start work here today." he replied trying to sound as genuine as possible. The man however just laughed.

"Yeah. Sure kid. You're coming with me!" The security guard grabbed him by his collar and started hulling him back.

"Hey, wait! Stop! I'm not lying! I really do start work here today!" The blond cried, struggling with all his might to get free.

"Stop right there!"

The man halted and Katsuya finally stopped struggling. Manoeuvring as best as he could – the guy still had an iron grip on him – he turned to see a pretty young woman standing there.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" she demanded. For a moment he thought she was addressing him until the security guard spoke.

"What does it look like I'm doing; throwing this damn brat out!"

The woman ignored him however, instead approaching Katsuya. "Excuse me, could you please tell me your name?"

He didn't reply straight away, instead taking into her appearance. She had long wavy silver hair and violet eyes. She reminded him of Mai in away but with softer features. "Uh… Jounouchi Katsuya."

She smiled. "Ah, so you're Katsuya-kun."

His eyes widened briefly. It had been such a long time since anyone had called him by his first name. In fact, not since his father died…

Her smiled quickly vanished and was replaced by a stern expression as she turned back to the security guard. "I kindly ask you to please remove your hold on this young man. What he says is true. He is the newest employee of Kaibacorp."

"This kid?!"

"As you should already know, President Kaiba is the same age, and I highly doubt he would appreciate someone referring to him as a 'kid'."

"But that's different!"

"Is it really?" He groaned and released his hold on the blond boy, throwing him forward slightly.

"Thank you!" the woman called after him as he stormed off.

"I'm very sorry about that, Katsuya-kun. However I think it best that on your first day you don't wander off."

"Ah, sorry about that." he replied, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment. "I kind of got lost."

"Ah, I see. The President said he thought that might happen." she said with a small chuckle.

"Where is Kaiba anyway? I have to get to his office quick."

For a brief moment, a flicker of surprise appeared on her face but it quickly vanished, and she smiled. "If you follow me, I will take you to him."

"Sure. Thanks."

He followed her into the elevator, and it was only then that he realised that he had no idea who she was.

"Uh, sorry, but who are you?"

"Oh! I'm sorry, how rude of me. My name is Tohno Maya. I'm an employee here at Kaibacorp. The President sent me to come find you. It's a good thing I heard that security guard yelling or it might have been awhile before I found you."

"Are you Kaiba's secretary or something?"

"No. Nothing like that. I'm-"

The elevator beeped and stopped and the pair quickly stepped out. Of course, Kaiba's office had to be on the very top floor.

She led him down a large corridor till they came to a door. She knocked on it, and was soon greeted by an "Enter!" which he knew to be Kaiba's voice. They went in and once again Katsuya found himself lost in awe.

"President Kaiba, I have found Jounouchi Katsuya."

"Thank you very much, Tohno-san."

"It was my pleasure, sir. I will now return to my duties." She turned and left, leaving no time for Katsuya to thank her for saving him from that scary security guard.

"You're late." stated Kaiba in his usual disapproving tone.

He opened his mouth to argue, but all of a sudden he remembered when he ran into Kaiba at school earlier that day. He had been feeling like crap and Kaiba had made him feel ten times worse. But mostly he was still angry at himself.

"Here is you contract. It contains information about your working timetable and your rate of pay." said Kaiba holding out the papers for him to take.

The brown eyed boy glanced over it quickly, ignoring most of the legal mumbo-jumbo. His hours required him to work 4-9 every weekday which suited him fine. He also had the option of doing overtime at the weekend if he so chose. He had a feeling he'd be doing a lot of it. While the rate of pay wasn't great, it wasn't bad either. A lot better than the crappy wages he got working at the convenience store.

"Do you agree to the terms and conditions?"

He nodded. "Then please sign here." said Kaiba, taking the papers back off him and pointing to one of the many lines at the bottom of the sheet. He handed him a pen and he quickly signed.

Although it was a rarity for him, he really wanted to start work. He felt uncomfortable being alone with Kaiba as it was, never mind being left alone with him in his huge empty office which was intimidating to say the least.

Kaiba signed a few things and put the papers to the side, now completely focusing his attention Katsuya. "Let's get you started then."

"Uh, sure. What do I have to do?"

The brunette let out a frustrated sigh. "You just read the contract."

"Ah, yeah. I was kind of focusing on the whole pay rate and how much I'd be getting paid thing." he replied, fiddling with his hands uneasily.

"I could have signed you away to a life of slavery in another country and you wouldn't have even realised. How pathetic. If you're this attentive to detail, then I'm having second thoughts about giving you this job."

"Oh, shut up. What the hell do I have to do?"

"You will mostly be doing clerical work such as filing, and serving tea to the other staff."

"Ah, okay." Then it hit him. "Wait! What!?"

"Do I really have to repeat myself over something that should be so simple to comprehend?

"Serve tea!? Isn't that the job of an-"

"Office Lady, yes. Kawagi-san got married the other week and as such felt that she no longer wished to continue working ghere. So you will be fulfilling her roles."

"But-but I'm a guy!" Katsuya yelled helplessly.

"More of a dog I would say. But yes I am aware of what you are. However, I do not have any other positions that you would be able to occupy, especially with your level of skills."

"But-"

"That, and you're really in no sort of position to complain."

Katsuya let out a huge sigh. "Fine. A job's a job. Now do you mind if I start so I can get the hell out of here."

He felt his blood boil as he saw the smirk on Kaiba's face, and he had to use all the self-restraint he had not to punch his new boss in the face.

"If you go to room 51-A, they will get you started."

"Fine." He said before storming off.

"Please try not to get lost this time. I would hate any valuable company time to be wasted." The CEO stated condescendingly as the blond reached the door.

"Screw you!" he cried, and with that, slammed the door shut.

* * *

He grumbled all the way the room which thankfully wasn't too difficult to find.

"Well, here goes nothing." he sighed before knocking on the door.

"Just a minute!" cried a voice, which was soon followed by a loud 'oof!'

A minute or so later the door was opened revealing a young woman wearing a large pair of glasses on her face. "Hello. How can I help you?" she asked politely, and Katsuya couldn't help but notice that she looked quite dishevelled.

"Uh, I'm Jounouchi Katsuya. I'm supposed to start work here today."

"Ah, so you're Jounouchi-kun! Sempai said that you'd be coming soon. Please come right in!" she said, shuffling to the side to let him in.

"My name is Fujisawa Arisa. I've been with Kaibacorp for over a year and a half now. Please sit down."

"Oh, thanks." he said, taking a seat.

"Everyone else is on their breaks just now, but they should be back soon. Would you like some tea?"

"I'm fine, thanks." he replied, feeling slightly awkward.

"So is this your first job?"

"Oh, no. I've had a couple of jobs before this."

"Really? This is actually my first. I went straight to University after High school so I didn't have any time to work. But I like it here. The other women are really nice, or well most of them anyway... I'm sure you'll like it here too." She smiled.

"To be honest, I was quite surprised to find out that a High school student would be joining our department. A guy, nonetheless. Are you friends with the President by chance?"

"I wouldn't exactly say 'friends'…"

"Oh! Here, have a biscuit!" she cried excitedly thrusting a plate at him. "They're so yummy! I can't get enough of them!"

"Uh, I'm fine thanks."

"No, really, you should have one!"

"No, I uh-"

"Arisa-san!" yelled a voice.

The bespectacled woman dropped the biscuit she was holding and quickly shot up.

A woman with long black hair entered the room. "What do you think you're doing!? You were supposed to tidy up this place, and it's messier than before we left!" she shouted indicating to the papers scattered all over the desks and floor.

"Uh, well I was tidying up, but Jounouchi-kun knocked on the door and I was startled and fell and well the papers dropped and I uh didn't want to be rude by making him wait outside so I invited him and offered him tea and biscuits and got distracted talking to him…"

"Yet, I see the kid isn't even eating or drinking anything while you're stuffing your face."

"I did offer but he didn't want any… Plus you wouldn't let me go for my break and I got hungry!"

"That's because you've done nothing since you've been here!"

"That-that's not true!" Arisa cried, looking like she was about to burst into tears. "I helped file those reports!"

"And then you dropped them and _I _had to re-file them. And from the looks of it, it seems like you've done it again!"

"It was an accident!"

"Here we go again." sighed one of the woman standing in the door way. "Relax Mitsuko, you're just going to make her cry again."

"She needs to learn!"

"I said I was sorry!" Arisa cried, tears welling up in her eyes.

A bead of sweat ran down the side of Katsuya's head. What the hell was going on?

"Please calm down!" cried another voice. "You are all acting terribly rude, especially when we have someone new joining us today. What kind of impression do you want to give him of us on his first day?"

There were a mumble of 'sorry's'. Glancing over, Katsuya was surprised to see that it was the women who had saved him earlier, Tohno Maya who had just spoke.

"Ah, Tohno-san!"

"I'm really sorry about this, Katsuya-kun." she stated apologetically as she approached him. "The office isn't usually like this."

"Actually it's more like all the time." said the woman from before, earning a glare from Tohno-san.

"I hope you enjoy working here and settle in easily. You know who I am already, and I'm gathering that Arisa-kun already introduced herself. This is Nakagawa Mitsuko." She said, signalling to the woman with the long black hair.

"And I'm Sakaki Sei." Spoke the woman standing by the door. Like him, she had blond hair, though a little lighter and a few inches longer. "Pleased to meet ya."

"Uh, likewise."

"Well, then, now that our introductions are done, we better get back to work. Sei-kun, those in the programming department will be expecting their tea, do you mind going over there?"

"I'm on it, sempai!"

"Mitsuko-kun, can you re-file these reports please?"

"I guess I have no choice. I'm going to do it in one of the other offices though else it'll just get messed up again by a certain _someone_." The dark haired woman muttered accusingly as she picked up the sheets scattered on the floor.

"You're so mean!" cried Arisa.

"Arisa-kun, would you please deliver these reports to the accounting department?"

Trying to maintain her tears she took the reports and left leaving just Katsuya and Tohno-san.

"Well, let's see. What can we get you started with? Oh, I know. Would you please arrange these files in alphabetical order?" Climbing up on to one of the stools she brought down a large folder off the shelf. "It's something I've been meaning to do for awhile now, but I've been busy with other things."

"Sure, that should be easy enough!"

Unfortunately it took a lot longer than he expected as three hours later he still wasn't even half way through.

"Don't worry about it." said Tohno-san placing a hand on his shoulder. "You'll get the hang of it. We're in no real hurry for them."

For some reason that made him feel worse rather than reassure him.

"Come on, we're all going for dinner. Please join us."

"Uh, sorry. I'll have to pass. I didn't bring any extra cash." he replied, weeping inside at the prospect of missing out on food.

"Don't worry, you're the newbie! It'll be our treat." cried Sei, a devilish grin on her face.

"You sure?"

"Just come on!" she yelled, pulling him up.

Katsuya felt guilty about his new co-workers buying him dinner despite it being a gesture of welcome, considering he already had to get Honda and Yugi to lend him money for lunch the day before.

"Are you sure it's okay?"

"Relax, Jounouchi-kun. We bought you dinner from the staff canteen, it's not like we went out and bought you a three course meal." said Sei, before digging into her food.

It was strange being here but also kind of nice, especially when your co-workers were all fairly attractive women. While he had hated Kaiba when he'd told him what his job would be, now he secretly wanted to thank him. Not that he ever would of course.

"So, Jounouchi-kun, how did you get your job here?" Mitsuko asked curiously.

"Uh, well, it's a long story…" If Kaiba didn't want Yugi and friends knowing he was staying with him, then he definitely wouldn't want his employees knowing.

"Aw, come on tell us!" cried Sei. "Are you friends with the President or something?"

"That's what I wondered!" added Arisa.

"Leave Katsuya-kun alone." spoke Maya with an air of authority. "If he doesn't want to discuss such things then you should badger him."

They mumbled apologies and again he couldn't help but feel indebted to Tohno-san. This was the second time she had saved him, though in a different way.

There was a minute or so of silence after that, and Katsuya felt that he'd better say something to relieve the tension.

"So, uh, why are you all working so late? I thought the usual shifts here would be from about nine to five."

"Kaibacorp pretty much runs twenty four hours a day so we need staff here at all times." answered Arisa.

"Wow, that must really suck." the boy replied in disgust. It really didn't take any leap of the imagination to envision Kaiba overworking his employees.

"Oh no. It's actually a very good system."

He looked at Tohno-san in confusion. "You see, not everyone is able to do the typical five to nine shifts as you mentioned due to other commitments so this means they still have a chance acquire work. Like yourself for example. As you go to school during the day you wouldn't be able to do such shifts."

"I guess…"

"As such, a lot of people are very grateful to the President. Kaiba-sama is a very kind man."

Katsuya just stared at her as if she had grown another head.

"He's so handsome too!" exclaimed Arisa.

"I'd have to agree with you on that one." Mitsuko added.

"I wonder if he likes women with glasses."

"Yeah right. As if you'd ever have a chance with the CEO of Kaibacorp."

"Ah! You're being mean again!"

Katsuya suddenly felt sick to his stomach. It was exactly like the girls at school. Okay, so maybe working with a bunch of pretty women wasn't such a great benefit after all…

The rest of the night went by fairly quickly, though he still hadn't managed to alphabetise all the files in the folder. While he had been expecting to be excluded from the conversations and such for being younger and well a guy, he was surprised to find his co-workers trying their hardest to involve them in their discussions while they worked.

"Finally, it's quittin' time!" yelled Sei cheerfully, stretching.

"I can't wait till I get home so I can watch the newest episode of 'Mega-cute Time-Travelling Girl Mikuru-chan!'" cried Arisa excited.

Mitsuko sighed. "You're almost twenty three years old and you still watch anime?"

"There's nothing wrong with that!" Quickly she turned to Katsuya. "Jounouchi-kun, you watch anime don't you?!"

"Uh, sometimes, yeah."

"See!"

"Yeah, but he's still in school."

"That's not the point!"

It had actually been quite along time since he had last been able to watch television properly with all that had happened. He dared say he missed it quite a bit.

"Well, I'm off. See you, Jou-kun." said Sei, flicking her hand in goodbye.

"If you want a lift, you better move it, Arisa." sighed Mitsuko.

"I'm coming!" yelled the brunette, grabbing her coat.

"Bye, Jounouchi-kun! Goodbye, sempai!"

"See you tomorrow." And with that, the two women left, leaving only him and Maya.

He let out a huge sigh. "Man, I can't believe I still haven't finished."

"Don't worry about it. You can finish up tomorrow." The silver haired women stated kindly.

"Uh, thanks a lot for your help, Tohno-san."

"Oh, please don't call me that. Hmm, how about Maya-sempai? It makes me sound less old."

"Maya-sempai." Katsuya had never referred to anyone as sempai in his life. He didn't believe in that whole just because someone was a grade higher than you in school that they were superior. That and he rarely used polite speech. But he supposed this was different from school…

"Ah, sure. Maya-sempai it is then." he said sheepishly.

The woman let out a small giggle. "You're so cute, Katsuya-kun."

And with that comment, he felt his entire face burn bright red.

"Th-Thanks…"

She may have reminded him somewhat of Mai but personality wise she was completely different.

"You can leave now. I'll lock up."

"Sur-sure. By-bye!" He immediately stopped what he was doing and grabbing his coat he rushed out feeling he would explode if he didn't get out of there.

His face remained bright red the entire elevator journey down. No one had ever referred to him as cute before, especially not a sexy woman like Maya.

For the first time in weeks, he finally felt that his luck was looking up. That was until he got outside and discovered that it was pouring down. He sighed. It looked like he'd be walking back to Kaiba's.

The weather had been so unpredictable lately. One minute it was sunny, the next it was raining heavily.

He took a deep breath, bracing himself for the cold before running out into the rain. In all honesty he didn't particularly mind the rain, it was just his last experience with it a few days ago was rather unpleasant. He dared say it was enough to put him off of it for life.

Two minutes or so of walking and he got the fright of his life as a car pamped at him awakening him from his deep thoughts – the deep thoughts being having just been called cute. The car stopped just in front of him and given the size of it he knew that it could only belong to one person. Without a second thought he rushed over and climbed in, desperate to get out of the rain.

"Only you would be stupid enough to go out walking on a night like this." said a voice as soon as he entered.

"Shut up! It's not like I had a choice! I didn't know what time the bus ran till and I couldn't be assed waiting around." he replied, defensively.

"Yes, but the last thing we need is you sick again, especially since you only just started this job. I would hate to fire you so early on." stated the brunette smugly.

Katsuya just snorted, choosing to ignore him.

"You better get out of the clothes as soon as you get in else you really will catch a cold." Although Katsuya was oblivious to it, something in Kaiba's tone had changed. "I'll have the chef cook dinner."

"Oh, actually, I've eaten already. Maya-sempai and the other women bought me dinner today, sort of as a welcoming the newbie thing."

"I see."

The rest of the journey back to the mansion was spent in relative silence, not that Katsuya had expected much talk.

Just as they were about to get out of the car, he suddenly stopped and turned back to Kaiba, a pink tinge upon his cheeks. "Uh, Kaiba-"

"What is it, mutt? I'd very much like to get inside." The other teen replied irritably.

"Nothing really." Just thanks I guess. For the job I mean…" And with that he quickly ran into the house out of the rain leaving a slightly bewildered Kaiba.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**I guess I should apologise firstly for the long gap in updates. Though one of my New Year's resolutions is to write more, and I have the next chapter mostly written so it shouldn't be too long between the next update.

As for the girls, don't worry, they won't be any romance between them and Jou. They'll serve as more big sister roles, Maya, in particular. I'm quite interested but I don't know that much about Japanese culture. However I did some research anf am aware that in the work place, men usually take more prominent roles than their females counterparts. (Okay, it still happens a lot in western society, but to a lesser degree). Of course this isn't necessarily in all work places, but the Office Lady is quite a common role of employment for Japanese women to take until they get married/become pregnant. Afterwards, it is usually expected that they will leave and take care of the family as a housewife basically, so it proves to be quite difficult for them to climb up the promotion ladder.

Anyway, just in case you're wondering why I'm rambling on, it's just to give some sort of explanation of why Katsuya is surprised and somewhat offended when Kaiba tells him what his job is. It's not sexism on his part; it's just the Japanese norm. And I'm gonna shut up now…

Thank you for reading! Constructive criticism and any advice on how I could improve is greatly appreciated!


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Yugioh, nor do I pretend to do so.

Katsuya had been working at Kaibacorp for over a week now and it didn't take long for him to pinpoint his new colleague's personalities. Arisa was a cheerful individual who got excited rather easily, and while seemingly quite intelligent she was incredibly clumsy which usually led to a scolding by Mitsuko. Mitsuko on the other hand was a relatively serious person who although got along with everyone didn't like anyone slacking off when it came to work. She could be scary at times but was kind at heart and had helped him out whenever he got confused or didn't know how to do something. Sei liked to joke a lot and was generally happy-go lucky which often put her at odds with Mitsuko. Katsuya thought she was fun to be around even though she teased him constantly. Then there was smart and sophisticated Maya. For him, Maya-sempai was his idea of the ideal women. Always polite and proper, he often felt out of place around her. Still, out of all his new co-workers he felt he had connected to her the most.

"Ne, Jou-kun! Could you go take some tea to the guys in section twelve?" yelled Sei, as she busily skimmed through some files.

He paled for a moment, finding it difficult to mutter a response, when a hand placed itself on his shoulder.

"That's alright, I'll take the tea to section twelve." The blond darted around to find that the hand and voice belonged to Maya. "Katsuya-kun, why don't you go and input these files into the system." she said handing him a pile of folders.

"Ah, sure!"

As Maya left to go quench the thirst of business men, Katsuya let out a sigh of relief. He hated delivering tea to the men in other sections; always giving him questioning looks and whispering to each other as if he were stupid and couldn't hear what they were saying about him. His sempai probably knew how he felt and thus discreetly offered to take his place. And for this, he was incredibly grateful.

"Only a few more hours before we get to leave!" cried Arisa cheerfully. "I can't wait!"

"For someone who's hardly done any work today, you really shouldn't be saying such things." countered Mitsuko.

"That's so not true! I've been working really, really, really hard today!"

"Yeah, at making a mess." added Sei.

"What!? You too!? You're all so mean!" she yelled, tears forming in her eyes.

"Hey, I was joking! I was joking!" the blond haired girl laughed awkwardly.

A bead of sweat ran down his head. They were even more bizarre than his group of his friends, and considering that one of them had an ancient spirit residing in his consciousness, that was really saying something.

"So, Jou, anything interesting planned this weekend?" asked Sei, stepping a way from the snivelling girl.

"Huh? Oh, just working guess."

She let out an irritated sigh. "Gah. How boring. All you do is go to school then come here at work. Don't you have friends or you know a life?"

"Of-Of course I do!" he defended. "I-I've just been busy that's all..."

Suddenly she wrapped her arm around his neck pulling him into a semi-headlock. "Kids your age should be out enjoying themselves without a care, wasting there money on crap, gorging on junk food, not stuck in a place like this all day!"

"Sei! You're acting incredibly inappropriate!" shouted the dark haired woman. "Jounouchi-kun is very fortunate to be working at this company at his age and he should be grateful for that. He doesn't need you putting your own selfish ideas into his heads!"

"Geez, I was just tryin to help get back some of his youth. Just cause you were the type to stay in on your days off school studying to all hours of the morning and doing nothing else, doesn't mean that Jou-kun doesn't need to be like that to."

"How rude it is that you just assume such things about me!"

"Come on you two please, don't fight!" sobbed Arisa.

The pair continued arguing, but unlike Arisa, Katsuya didn't make a move to stop them, Sei's words slowly sinking in. She was right. He didn't have a life. Not a desirable one anyway. His mind blocked out the background noise and he started to think back to when everything had gone wrong. When his father had died? Or maybe…maybe it was before even then…

"_Onii-chan!"_

"_Shizuka!"_

"_Onii-chan!"_

"_Don't go! Don't leave me!"_

* * *

  
For the rest of the day, Katsuya remained unusually quiet, lying when questioned about it by saying that he was just tired. Maya-sempai had soon returned and broken up the argument with little words. It seemed that all three of the girls respected the slightly older woman a lot and after being scolded always hung their heads in shame.

After saying goodbye, he walked along the long corridors of Kaibacorp till he came to Kaiba's office.

He knocked on the door.

"Who is it?"

"Jounouchi Katsuya."

"Come in."

After the first few times of being asked who was it, the blond now always answered with his full name. Kaiba had patronisingly asked 'who' whenever he said 'me', and so he had no choice but to answer like some obedient employee.

He went in and took a seat on one of the chairs opposite Kaiba.

"I'll be ten more minutes." The CEO informed him not looking up from his computer. When no complaint was heard from the other teen he briefly glanced up the screen though still typing away furiously.

While Katsuya still made his own way to Kaibacorp from school, it was arranged that Kaiba would give him a ride home. It had been raining a lot recently and the millionaire teen didn't want to have to waste his time taking care of the mutt if he got soaked and became sick again. But at the back of the mind he was weary for the mutt's safety. The local Domino newspaper was the saddest excuse for what good journalism should be but he flicked through it everyday, though mostly to see if anything had been written about Kaibacorp. Still, he occasionally came across and read articles of people walking home at night or on the bus and being sttacked. It had even happened to one of his employees. Although he would never admit it, the main reason he took the idiot home was that he worried for his safety. Of course, he told himself this was purely because the mutt was one of his employees and as such had a responsibility for him. Not that he actually believed such reasoning…

Just as he had said, Kaiba finished ten minutes later. The car journey home was strange, the other teen usually gibbered on about work, but he was completely silent. He never listened to what he was actually saying, but now he was listening and nothing was being said.

"Nii-sama! Jounouchi!" Mokuba greeted as the pair entered the house. "How was work?"

"It was fine." The brunette replied, taking off his jacket.

"Come on, let's get some dinner! I'm starving!"

Seto sighed. "I told you, you don't need to wait for us. Have the chef make you something at a decent hour."

"It's no fun eating alone. I wanted to wait for you and Jounouchi, Nii-sama." pouted the raven haired boy. "Hey, Jounouchi what do you want to eat?" he asked quickly before his brother could get a word in.

The blond suddenly woke as if from a daydream. "Huh? Oh, I'm actually not that hungry. I think I'm just going to get started on my homework." And without warning he hurriedly walked away.

"Is Jounouchi alright?" the boy asked, turning to his brother worriedly.

"I'm sure he's fine." He knew it was a lie.

"Nii-sama, maybe you should talk to him."

"There's nothing to talk about, Mokuba." he replied sternly. "Now come on. Quickly decide what you want for dinner."

The younger Kaiba let out a sigh as he followed his brother. Nii-sama sure was stubborn…

* * *

As Seto sat typing away on his laptop in his own room he found that he couldn't completely focus on the task at hand, his mind lingering elsewhere. He would still be able to get it done, but it frustrated him to know that he was not wholly devoted to his work. He let out a sigh as he gently rubbed the bridge of his nose. Maybe he had been working too hard, or the pressure was finally getting to him. Though it seemed particularly unlikely given all the things he had been through in the past.

At dinner that night, Mokuba had continually made references to their 'guest' albeit discreetly. He wanted to push the blame on to his younger brother for putting such out of character thoughts in his head, but he knew even if he hadn't said anything, he'd still be concerned. Now he was fully convinced that having Jounouchi live here was a mistake. In just under two weeks, the idiot had managed to wrangle his way into his life with complete ease. He saw him at school, he saw him at Kaibacorp, he saw him at home… Right now he was only a few rooms away from him causing him further annoyance.

There was only one person who could pierce through his aloof exterior and get him riled up in such away and that was the spirit that possessed Mutou Yugi. To think that there was now another was unacceptable, especially when in the past he had been able to brush the mutt off so easily.

He willed himself to calm down. He would be out of his life soon enough. He would gather enough money to pay off his father's debts, get his own place and hopefully a new job and then the only place he would be forced to see would be school. And they would both be graduating in less than a year so after that they would be separated and never have to see each other for the rest of their lives.

He placed his hand on his forehead in irritation. He wasn't sure which was worse, the fact that he was diluting himself with such wishful thinking or fabricating such a thing in the first place.

"_Is Jounouchi alright?"_

He pushed himself away from his desk and stood up. He would never get any work done at this rate.

"_Nii-sama, maybe you should talk to him."_

He would look in the room, make sure he was alright and then finally put such nonsense behind him once and for all.

Stupid dog…

The brunette walked briskly down the hall to the other teen's room, but as he reached the door he found himself hesitating slightly. No. This was ridiculous. Why was he so reluctant? Why did it bother him so much?

"You should be ashamed of yourself, acting so weak and pathetic." He thought to himself angrily. "You should tell him to gather his things and leave right now. You don't owe him any favours. You don't owe him anything. You stupidly gave it to him, and you can take it all back just as easily."

He opened the door, though with a little more force than he had intended to. However, his action was unheard as he glanced across the room to find the other teen hunched over the small desk, gritting his teeth with a pen in one hand and his other gripping on to his hair. It didn't take a genius like him to figure out that Jounouchi was obviously frustrated about something.

He stood staring at the boy for a few moments before finally letting his presence be known. "Mutt."

The blond haired boy quickly awoke and looked up in complete surprise. "Kaiba? What are you doing here?"

"I live here." Of course, he knew that he was referring to the room as now when he thought about it, the only time he had actually been in here was the first night when the dog was sick. He had also asked that question back then.

The other teen looked oddly uncomfortable. "I mean what do you want?"

Yes, what did he want?

"I just came to inform you that you will be receiving your first pay check in a few days?" he stated indifferently.

Ok, it wasn't a lie, but not the reason why he had come here.

"Really? That's great!" The teen was smiling, but Kaiba noted that it seemed fake somehow. How he knew this however, he wasn't quite sure.

"I guess I can finally pay you some rent for letting me stay here." The brown eyed boy replied, scratching the back of his head.

"Idiot. I told you, I don't need your money. Especially not money that was originally mines in the first place."

"I guess so… But…but it doesn't seem fair somehow."

"Life isn't fair. Get used to that fact."

Katsuya snorted. "Yeah, as if I didn't know that already..."

"I suppose so."

Again, he looked up in surprise. This must have been the first time that Kaiba had actually agreed with him, or not so much agree as not striking him down with a demeaning comment.

"You…Your life has been painful too, hasn't it?"

"And how ever would you know something like that?" he asked coldly. He hated anyone enquiring into his past, especially people he deemed unworthy.

Nonetheless, the callousness in Kaiba's voice didn't seem to put Katsuya off.

"Mokuba once told us of how you and he were orphaned; of your time at the orphanage and how you ended up living with that guy, Goza-whatever."

"I don't think that is any of you business."

"Yeah, I guess it's not..."

There was a long drawn out silence before Katsuya returned to looking at the book he had been reading when Kaiba had first came in.

Seto turned and began to walk towards the door when he heard a curse coming from the other teen. Despite his better judgement, despite knowing that he should make a hasty retreat and go back to work, he turned around.

"Just what is it that has the mutt so wound up then?" he asked trying to keep his voice neutral.

The blond seemed to be surprised that he was still here, but let out a sigh. "I don't understand any of this."

"And just what is it you don't understand?"

"Maths. These equations just don't make any sense to me. Though I guess they're a piece of cake for guy like you." he said a little grudgingly.

Before he even had time to register, Kaiba's voice came from behind him. "Of course it doesn't make sense. You have these two equations in the wrong place."

"Huh?"

Without warning, Kaiba grabbed the pen between his fingers and leaning over the table started scoring things out on his notebook.

"Ah! What-what the hell are you doing!?" Katsuya asked panicking.

"If you keep on following those examples it'll take you forever to find the correct answer. This method is much quicker and more efficient." he answered as he scribbled it down. "Here, I've written some instructions on how to do them in case your tiny brain can't figure it out from the examples I've given you."

Katsuya stared up in astonishment. "Kaiba…"

"What is it now?"

"Huh? Oh nothing. Just uh…thanks." He smiled. "Thanks for helping me."

He gazed at the shorter teen's face. His smile… This time it wasn't fake.

Suddenly he awoke from his thoughts, realising what he was doing. "Hmm. I don't have anymore time to waste on you."

And with that he quickly left the room.

**Authors Notes: **Oops. I actually meant to post this chapter a week ago. I blame Death Note for eating up my free time…

As usual, thank you lots for reading. I'm going to look into getting a beta reader pretty soon. And by pretty soon, I mean probably completely forget… I hate my memory.

But anyway, constructive criticism and any advice on how I could improve are greatly appreciated!


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer:**I do not own Yugioh, nor do I pretend to do so.

**Chapter 10**

Surprisingly, Seto helping Katsuya with his homework was not a one-off occasion. The next night Kaiba aided him again, only this time it was Katsuya who asked for the brunette's help. He had been so nervous when he had gone to Kaiba's room, though he didn't quite understand why. Maybe it was because he was so sure he would reject him. That Kaiba would tell him to stop wasting his time and leave. But he knocked anyway. As he had suspected, the other teen had been busy typing on his laptop and hadn't even bothered to look up after confirming that it was all right for him to enter. Katsuya had stood awkwardly at the door for a minute before he moved forward and asked Kaiba for his help. 

"Fine, mutt, let me see."

The blond had been so shocked that he couldn't help staring wide-eyed at Kaiba, and it was only through a degrading comment that he was brought back to his senses and started defending himself. 

Since then, every night, Kaiba would help him with his homework. He was reluctant at first, not wanting to rely too much on him, but in the end he kept on going, and although Kaiba usually appeared irritated when he showed up, he always helped him.

"Thanks for helping me with those problems," said Katsuya as he plopped himself down at the kitchen table. "I think that I'm finally getting the hang of them."

"Problems?" The youngest Kaiba questioned curiously, a piece of toast sticking out of his mouth.

"Uh, yeah, Kaiba's been helping me with my Maths homework," he replied, scratching the back of his head awkwardly.

"Really? That's great!" Mokuba cried in amazement. "Nii-sama used to help me with my homework, but I pretty much understand all of it now."

A bead of sweat ran down the side of Katsuya's face. Genius obviously ran in the Kaiba family… Though, he did always wonder why a genius like Kaiba, who owned a multi-million corporation, continued to attend high school.

Just as Kaiba stood up, Katsuya suddenly remembered something.

"Kaiba, I, uh, I'll kind of be late for work today…" he said sheepishly. 

"And just why is that?" Though the brunette's expression hadn't changed, Katsuya was pretty much convinced that he was mentally glaring at him.

"I checked the roster yesterday and it turns out that I'm on clean-up duty today. I mean, normally I would ditch, but Anzu's gonna be there too and she knows that at the place I used to work at, or, uh, my pretend job, I mean, I didn't start 'til later, so if I try and skip out earlier then she…" he cringed just thinking about it. She would definitely kick his ass if he tried to leave early, and Yugi and Honda wouldn't be there to protect him.

"It's fine. I understand."

"Really?" His face instantly lit up -

"I'll just take the time you're doing clean-up duties out of your pay."

- and deflated.

"That's so unfair!" he yelled, once his boss had left.

"Don't be stupid, Jounouchi. Nii-sama was joking," stated Mokuba as he finished up his breakfast.

"Kaiba, joke? That would happen only when hell froze over," he sighed.

"Nii-sama helping you with your homework; Nii-sama, giving you a job; Nii-sama letting you stay here; Nii-sama rescuing you when he found you on the street. I bet you never thought any of those things would happen," said the younger boy, his voice suddenly turning serious.

He didn't reply, but Mokuba was right. All these things Kaiba had done for him and not asked for a single thing in return. Why? He wanted to know so much, but was far too frightened to ask. 

"Anyway, I better head off to school," Mokuba said as he stood up.

"Mokuba, wait!" he cried suddenly.

"What?"

"Kaiba, he… Why-" He stopped. Why was he asking Mokuba? What, because he was too much of a chicken to ask him, himself? "Uh, it's nothing, never mind. I uh, better get ready to leave too."

He threw his bag over his shoulder, just about to go, when Mokuba spoke out again.

"Jounouchi."

"Huh?"

"I don't know why Nii-sama has done all these things so foreign to him lately. He probably doesn't understand himself. But what I do understand is that Nii-sama doesn't do anything without a good reason. Especially something like that. But…"

"Mokuba…"

Looking up at Katsuya, he smiled. "I'm glad he did."

* * *

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­

Katsuya spent the entire day at school in a complete daze, thinking of Mokuba's words over and over again. Why was Kaiba doing these things? And why hadn't he even thought about it? Well, at first he had, but at that time Kaiba had brushed him off and he had never thought to ask again. Like Mokuba said, there had to be a reason.

_He probably doesn't understand himself._

"Kaiba…"

"Jounouchi!"

He awoke, startled, dropping the broom he was holding to the floor. "Ah, Anzu! Uh, what-what is it?"

"I've been calling you for the past minute. You've been completely spacing out."

"Oh, I guess, I have," he said, scratching the back of his head.

She sighed in exasperation. "What is wrong with you? You've been like this all day."

"Nothing. I'm just tired, that's all. I'm fine, really!"

"Jounouchi…"

Suddenly he noticed the serious expression on his friend's face. "Anzu, what's wrong?"

"Yugi… He's been really worried about you. We all have. It's just that ever since your dad-" She paused for a moment, "Well, you've been working so much. The only place we get to see you is at school. I know it's something that you have to do, but we're worried that you're over-working yourself. I mean, when was the last time we all went over to the game shop and just hung out?"

"I know that. It's just the bills…" He diverted his eyes, feeling horrible.

"I know you have to pay them. I-I have to work hard at my job so I can earn enough money to go to New York. Actually, I try and work at the burger joint as much as I can, but everyone now and then, when I'm really stressed, I take a day to myself. And you know what I do on that day off? I spend it with those I care about."

"I-"

"You're entitled to a holiday every once in awhile. That's why this Sunday I'm going to get Yugi and Honda and waste the day hanging out at the arcade. And _you're_ coming too."

"Eh? What? I can't-"

"You're coming and that's it, goddamnit! And if your boss refuses him, I'll come down to your store and give him a piece of my mind!"

He backed away slightly. Obviously he had no say in this…

"Besides, it'll be fun. When was the last time you and Yugi even duelled?"

"The last time was…" he stopped, surprised, "over a month ago."

"And for two of the greatest duellists in the world, that's bad! I mean, what if one of those kids who practice everyday finally catches up to you and kicks your butt?" she said, a little too excitedly.

Katsuya on the other hand had a horrible mental image of an eight year old pummelling him to the ground. "Kaiba, he'd never let me live it down…"

"Huh?"

"Oh, uh, nothing!"

"So?"

He sighed. There was no point left in arguing. Anzu would keep on badgering him till he finally relented. "Fine, I'll ask my boss tonight, if I can get Sunday off."

"Great! I'll call Yugi and Honda tonight when I get home and tell them!" she cried, cheerfully. 

"What? I haven't even asked my boss yet!"

"Don't worry, you'll get it off. If not, like, I said, I'll come down to the store and kick your manager's butt! Now, hurry up and go brush a spot that you haven't been sweeping for the past ten minutes!"

* * *

Katsuya decided he would wait until he got home before asking Kaiba if he could take the day off on Sunday. Yet, they had gotten back over an hour ago, and there he sat in his room staring blankly at the ceiling. Ever since he had first became an employee at Kaibacorp, he had been working there everyday, so it felt strange to be asking for a day off, especially when he desperately needed the money. But Anzu was right; it had been way too long since he had hung out with everyone. With a sigh, he stood up and reluctantly headed over to Kaiba's room.

"You can come in, mutt," Kaiba spoke, after he had knocked on the door.

"How did you know it was me?" the blond asked in confusion.

"From the way you knock."

"Ah." What? Kaiba had memorised his knock? Then again, since he had been coming there for help with homework the past few nights, he would know it would be him. The only other people it could be were the servants or Mokuba, and he had lived with Mokuba his entire life so it was one of those things you could just tell…

"Are you wanting something, or are you just going to stand there?"

"Huh? Oh, uh, yeah!"

Kaiba glanced up from the laptop and stared at him. "I'm taking it that it doesn't have something to do with homework, then."

"How did-"

"You're not carrying any notebooks or textbooks so it would be rather pointless to come here and ask for my help without them. Unless you really are as stupid as I think and forgot them."

"No! That's not why I came here." Had Kaiba somehow developed psychic powers that day? In that case, maybe he knew why he had come here for.

"Actually, I was wondering if, uh, it would, you know, be alright if I took this Sunday off?"

Kaiba stared at him for a long moment before going back to his laptop. "I don't see why not."

"What? Really? It's okay, then?"

"You are an employee of Kaibacorp, and as one of my employees you are entitled to take a day off every once and awhile.

Katsuya let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks." Then suddenly something hit him. "But-but, it's not like I'm taking the day off for myself or anything! There-there is a reason!"

"It's really none of my business what you do on your day off," the brunette said matter-of-factly. 

"I-I have to-"

"Is that all?"

"Huh? Oh, uh yeah. I just-"

"Then can you please leave, so I can actually get some work done as thankfully for once you won't be disturbing me over the simplest of problems."

His eyes widened slightly in surprise, but he didn't say anything about it. "Sure." With that he turned to leave, quickly glancing back at him as he opened the door. "Goodnight."

* * *

Sunday came fairly fast, and Katsuya found himself standing outside the arcade waiting for Yugi, Honda and Anzu to arrive. It was one of the few times in his life were he was actually early, despite having planned on having a long lie-in. But somehow getting up early for school and work everyday had affected his internal clock and he woke up around the same time every morning unless he was especially tired. It felt strange being the first one there, though mostly boring, and for the first time he could sympathise with his friends having to wait about for him for ages. 

Having nothing to do, his mind wandered back to the other night. Kaiba had given him the day off without question, but… for some reason, he felt as if he had to explain himself. That, for some reason, he didn't want Kaiba to think he was slacking off. He had wanted to at least explain why he had asked for the day off and that the reasons he had to spend the day with his friends was because they were becoming suspicious -not that he didn't want to spend the day with them of course- but he hadn't given him the chance to say. Not even when he had told him the night before that he would be out for the day, had Kaiba asked what he was doing, and strangely, this bothered him. 

He had been living with Kaiba for a month and a half now. Wasn't he even the least bit curious as to what he was doing? He supposed that it was as Kaiba had said; it was none of his business. But, in this case, he had wanted him to know.

"Jounouchi!" He looked up to see his short, multi-coloured haired friend running towards.

"Hey there, what's up?"

"This sure is a surprise, you being early. Usually, you're the last to arrive."

"Yeah. Though, I'm not _always _last," he said, scratching the back of his head. Okay, that was a complete lie but anyway…

"I'm really glad you were able to get the day off of work. It's been so long since we all hung out together."

"Yeah, I've missed it," he smiled. He really had.

"Jii-chan's been wondering why you haven't visited the store in so long; he even has this new amazing game that everyone's been raving about." He put his finger to his mouth thoughtfully. "I think it was made by Kaibacorp actually…"

His eyes widened slightly at the mention of his name. "Kaiba?"

"Ah! I know you don't like him and all!" cried Yugi, flapping his arms in a panicked state. "But-but, he really is a good guy deep down."

"Yeah, he really is…"

The smaller boy blinked looking confused. "Jounouchi?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing! Hey, after the arcade we should all visit the game shop and I can say hey to your Grampa."

"Sure!"

"Hey, you, guys!" cried Anzu who had just arrived, Honda trailing shortly behind her. "Wow, you were actually here before us," the girl gasped in surprise. 

"Well, there's a first time for everything," added Honda.

"Would everyone stop saying that?" yelled Katsuya, his eyebrow twitching.

* * *

"Fine, fine. Let's go."

"Ah, Nii-sama, you're not at work today?" Mokuba said in surprise as he found his elder brother propped on one of the couches with his laptop in one of their many huge living rooms.

"I decided there would be no point going in as I can quite easily finish what I need to do today from home."

"Well, you have only really been going into work on a Sunday these past few weeks so Jounouchi can do overtime and earn more money," he replied, thoughtfully.

"I wouldn't force myself into work for that useless mutt." 

"Ah." He didn't believe him at all, but there was no way he would correct his big brother. "Where did Jounouchi go today anyway?" he asked curiously.

"I have no idea." The elder Kaiba replied, giving off the impression that he didn't care in the slightest. 

"You didn't ask him?"

"It's none of my business what the mutt does in his free time."

"I guess, but Jounouchi's been with us for almost two months now. It's almost like he's part of our family."

The brunette instantly stopped typing.

"Ni…Nii-sama?"

He let out a faint sigh. "Don't get too attached to him, Mokuba, he'll be gone soon enough and we can return to our normal lives."

"But I like having him around. And you…when he's around you, you-" He stopped, being hit by a sudden realisation. 

"Mokuba?"

"Oh, uh, nothing! I was just thinking out loud, Nii-sama. Anyway, I better go. I have to meet some friends in half an hour. See ya!" And with that he ran off leaving a slightly confused Kaiba.

Friends, he thought; something he had never had. He was happy for his brother, he deserved them. He couldn't afford to have friends, but Mokuba was different. The mutt, he was probably out with his friends, his friends who were constantly concerned for his well-being. 

"I have Mokuba," he said to himself out loud. 

But he knew it wouldn't last forever. Mokuba would grow older, discover his own life and forget about him. It was something he was prepared for. All he could do now was relish the time he had with him just now. 

It was almost the exact opposite with the mutt. An unwanted, useless person he didn't care for at all had suddenly fallen into his life. He wondered how long he would be invading his life for. And the most disconcerting thing about it was that he knew if he was to stay much longer, he wouldn't actually mind.

* * *

Yugi and Anzu laughed as they slurped their milkshakes. Honda was currently trying to impress some cute girl in the grade below him by winning her a plushie at one of those claw grabbing machines. But by the looks of it, he wasn't having all that much luck.

"I really want to play some Dance Dance Revolution!" cried Anzu as she stood up.

"Sure!" cried Yugi eagerly. "Are you coming, Jounouchi?"

"Nah, I think I'll skip out on this one." In all honesty, he really hated that game.

"Okay. We won't be long," they said as they ran off.

Katsuya couldn't help but smile as he watched them walk away. He really did miss this. He had such amazing friends, and yet, at the same time, he couldn't help but think about Kaiba. The stoic teen had been randomly popping in and out of his mind the entire day.

"Kaiba. Maybe I should have invited him?" " he thought to himself, "Wait, am I losing my freakin' mind? There's no way in hell Kaiba would have come. For starters, the guy does not 'do' fun. That, and he hates Yugi. Plus, he didn't even care about what I was doing today."

"Hey, you okay? You looked bummed," stated Honda as he plopped himself down on the chair next to him.

"Nah, I'm fine, was just thinking, that's all."

"Good, cause, I'm the one who should be bummed out," he sighed.

"Rejected again, huh?" 

"Don't say it like that!"

The blond grinned. "It's true though, isn't it?"

"At least I try! When are you going to go and find yourself a girl?"

"Me? Well, I don't really have the time right now." An image of Mitsuko, Sei, Arisa and Maya-sempai popped into his head. He guessed since they were girls, they counted, but he had never thought about any of them in a romantic sense. He may have pictured them all naked in his mind once or twice but that was a pretty normal guy thing to do.

"True. You barely have anytime to yourself. Still, I'm glad you came."

Katsuya smiled. "Me too."

"Speaking of cute girls, how is Shizuka-chan?" the tanned boy asked curiously, a small blush spreading across his cheeks.

"How she is is none of your business," he said, taking a huge slurp out of his milkshake.

"Aw, come on, don't be like that!" Honda replied, scratching the back of his head.

Katsuya was well aware that both Honda and Otogi had crushes on Shizuka. And while it wasn't like he didn't trust them – though that jerk Otogi had made him dress up in a dog costume that time – Shizuka was his baby sister, and he wasn't ready to let her go in that way quite yet. That, and if she started dating properly before him, he'd feel pretty pathetic.

Yugi and Anzu returned ten minutes later and they decided to head over to Yugi's Grampa's store

* * *

"Ah, Jounouchi, it's been a while," Sugoroku exclaimed as he quickly rushed from behind the counter. "How have you been doing?" he asked, somewhat hesitantly. Suddenly, Katsuya realised that this was the first time he would have seen Yugi's Grampa since the funeral. 

"I'm doing okay, thanks. Both school and work can be a little tiring, but I'm managing."

The old man nodded. "You know that if you ever need anything, anything at all, Yugi and I will always be here."

"That's right!" cried the short boy. "So please don't hesitate to ask us for anything."

"The same goes for me," added Honda.

"Don't forget about me!" the brown haired girl cried. 

"Everyone…" He could feel the tears welling up in his eyes. "Thank you. Thank you so much…"

* * *

It was a few hours later before Katsuya finally returned, still touched by his friends kind words.

"I'm home," he spoke out loud, not realising before he had said it. Home? Was this place now home?

No. It would never be. And for some strange reason this saddened him. 

He climbed up the huge flight of stairs, not sure whether to just return to his room or to inform Kaiba that he was back. If he didn't, would Kaiba wonder where he was? Would he worry for him?

"Ahh! Why am I thinking these stupid things?" It had been like that all day. One minute he'd be laughing with his friends, and the next he would wonder what Kaiba was up to, which was stupid because there could be only thing he would be doing. "I seriously think that I'm losing my mind…"

He knocked on Kaiba's door, but there was no reply. Was he asleep? No, that couldn't be it. Maybe he was still at Kaibacorp…

He sighed, deciding that he would go and look for Mokuba, but like Kaiba, he wasn't in his room. It was actually one of the servants that informed him that Mokuba had been out all day. Maybe with Kaiba? Though the servant didn't seem to think so.

He spent the next half hour wandering aimlessly around the mansion, not wanting to return to his room. The house was large and mostly empty, and it felt strange being there without any of its occupants. He knew that spending the rest of the night studying was probably the best way to make up for being out all day, but in the end he couldn't bring himself to do so. What if he got stuck? Kaiba wouldn't be there to help them.

Back downstairs, he wandered through the lounges. Eventually he made up his mind to play one of Mokuba's many games consoles. It would take his mind off, well, that thing he had been thinking about all day. And if he got some practice by himself in, maybe he could finally beat the kid at something.

The moment he walked in the living room he froze. There sat Kaiba at the table typing away on his laptop, and without thinking, he called out, "Kaiba!"

"So you've finally returned, mutt," the brunette said, glancing up.

"Ah, sorry, for being so late."

"As long as you aren't late for work, then I don't really care." 

Katsuya felt his heart sink. "Oh." 

He didn't care at all.

He turned and started to walk away, when much to his surprise, Kaiba called out to him. "Mutt."

He stopped and turned around. "You haven't had anything to eat, have you?" It was more of a statement than a question, but he shook his head anyway.

"Then, I'll have the chef prepare something for us."

"What? You haven't eaten yet?" But Kaiba didn't reply, just picked up his laptop and walked off, which was also a cue for him to follow. 

The blond sat at the dinning table while Kaiba spoke to the chef and it was then that he started to grow horribly nervous. Dinner wouldn't be ready for another half an hour at least and as Kaiba had left his laptop there, he intended to stay at the table until dinner. Did that mean he had to stay too, or could he sneak off to his room? He had wanted to see Kaiba as strange as that was, but a whole hour of awkward silence? 

He hoped Mokuba would return soon.

"So, did you go into Kaibacorp today?" he asked uneasily when the other teen returned.

"No."

"Oh, so you worked from home then?"

"Obviously."

Silence. Katsuya wanted to whack his head off the table. 

"So, where did you go today then?"

His eyes widened while his face was masked with confusion. He hadn't just imagined it, Kaiba had…

"Of course, you don't necessarily have to tell me."

"Huh? No, no, of-of course I don't mind telling you!" Damnit. Why in the hell was he so jumpy? "I went and met up with Yugi, Honda and Anzu."

"I see."

"But-but, like I said before, I wasn't taking the day off because I wanted to! I mean, I wanted to spend time with my friends but it was more of Anzu going on at me that I had to-"

"You don't have to explain yourself to me, mutt," Kaiba cut in.

"I know! But I want to!" he cried. Quickly and without thinking he put his hand over his mouth. He hadn't meant to yell it and immediately felt his face turn red.

"I see."

He took a minute of so to regain his composure. He could do this. He could act normal and not as if his heart was racing unexpectedly fast.

"So… So where is Mokuba anyway?"

"He is out with some friends and has said that he will not return till later."

"Really?" Katsuya asked, surprised. "Will he be all right out this late?"

"As far as I know, he is at one of his friend's house. However, I distinctly told him to call every two hours on the dot or else he would be in big trouble."

"Ah, I see." Kaiba really did care about Mokuba, and if anything happened to him. In a way, it reminded him a lot of his relationship with Shizuka.

"Did you enjoy your day with those idiots, or as you would refer to them, 'friends'?"

"They're not idiots," he replied, scowling slightly. "But yeah, I really did enjoy being with them today."

"I suppose that in away it would serve as a reminder of the life you had once had. How different this must be for you."

"I…I guess so. I do miss hanging out with Honda and everyone, and I really do miss my Dad, but-" He bit down on his lip. "I like- I like being here. I know that I'm always in your way, and I do plan on working as much as I can to be able to afford a place of my own, but I..." He closed his eyes. He felt so stupid saying all this to Kaiba, especially since the other teen probably regretted the moment he took him in.

"You're not a bother to me, mutt," the other teen finally replied.

"Huh? Wh-what?"

"Annoying and uncivilised, but not a bother."

Seto had stopped typing. Why the hell was he admitting such things? Of course, the dog was a bother! He wanted him out of his life as fast as possible. Didn't he?

"Th-thanks." Katsuya didn't even bother to argue against being called annoying and uncivilised; instead he focused on the strange warm feeling that was coming from inside of him. Kaiba didn't think he was a bother. "I'm glad."

The mutt wasn't acting like his usual self at all. Then again, he had being acting odd lately himself. Even Mokuba had confirmed it. 

"Kaiba, I'll pay you back, I promise!" Seto glanced over at the blond teen, not quite able to keep his surprise from appearing on his face. "I swear it!"

The resolve on his face…

The brunette, half smirked, half smiled. "If you wish." It would have been incredibly rude of him to tell the other teen not to bother. He could tell from the conviction on Jounouchi's face that he truly intended to pay him back. He didn't want to be treated like a charity case. He would replay his debt. An image of the orphanage appeared in his mind. Seto could understand that.

"Do you need any help with your homework tonight?"

"Huh?" Jounouchi blinked, surprised by the sudden shift in conversation. "Yeah, I, I think so. I'm having-"

"Then we'll go to your room after dinner. I've been working all day. Even I need a break," Seto admitted, rubbing his eyes. 

Kaiba considered helping him with his homework a break? Oh, well, he wasn't going to question it. "Thanks!"

The warm feeling inside him increased. So this is what the feeling felt like, the feeling that he hadn't felt in so long - happiness. 

Seto felt the sides of his mouth quiver and discreetly placed his hand in front of his mouth. He was actually smiling.

**Authors Notes: **Thank you lots to the amazing sappytheelf for beta-reading for me! I really do appreciate it. As always, constructive criticism and any advice on how I could improve are greatly appreciated Thank you for reading!


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer:**I do not own Yugioh, nor do I pretend to do so.

**Chapter 11**

Katsuya couldn't hide the huge grin on his face as he gazed at the piece of paper in front of him

Katsuya couldn't hide the huge grin on his face as he gazed at the piece of paper in front of him.

"What's with you? Something good happen?" questioned Honda, making his way to his friend's desk.

"It sure did!" the blond chimed cheerfully.

"And what would that be?"

Katsuya pushed the piece of paper in front of the tanned boy's face. Grabbing hold of it, Honda took a step back in complete shock. "You - you got a 90?"

"That's right!" he replied triumphantly, folding his arms in accomplishment.

"How did you cheat? And why didn't you share your method with me?!"

"I didn't cheat!" Katsuya yelled, pushing himself up from his desk. "I got the grade because of -" He stopped suddenly. "I got this grade because I studied, that's all."

He sighed, sitting back down.

"But you suck at studying. How the hell did you manage to come away from that test with a score like this?" Honda asked, still in complete disbelief.

"I just did, okay?" Actually, the only reason he got that grade was because of Kaiba's continuous help each night, but it wasn't like he could tell Honda that.

"How did you guys do?" Anzu asked curiously, Yugi appearing behind her.

"Crap, as usual," sighed Honda, resting against Katsuya's desk.

"I keep telling you, you need to study! The college entrance exams aren't that far away, you know!"

"Yeah, yeah. You tell us every single time we have a test or homework assignment," he groaned, waving his hand dismissively.

"Well, excuse me for caring about my friends' futures!"

"Ah, so Jounouchi-kun, how did you do?" asked Yugi, a bead of sweat running down his face as he tried to ignore Honda and Anzu bickering in the background.

"Pretty damn well actually," Katsuya replied, holding up his test paper, "And before you ask, no, I did not cheat!"

"Eh? Jounouchi-kun, this - this is amazing!" cried Yugi, just as surprised as Honda.

"Hey, let me see!" demanded the brown haired girl, completely forgetting her current argument.

"Wow! Yugi's right, that's amazing! I only did one per cent better than you!"

"Congratulations," said Yugi, smiling.

"Looks like Honda's the resident dunce now," Anzu chuckled.

"What the hell did you say?!"

"Well, it's true. Jounouchi-kun put effort into studying and his hard work paid off. You should take a lesson from him." And just like that, they went straight back to their squabble, with Yugi in the middle trying to break them up.

Katsuya glanced around. Kaiba had left school early, some trouble at Kaibacorp or something. He couldn't help but feel a tremendous amount of guilt as he glanced down at his paper. He couldn't actually blame Honda for thinking he had cheated as in the past he had always gotten a lower score than him. Everyone thought he got this on his own, but if it hadn't been for Kaiba helping him he probably wouldn't even have passed.

He desperately wanted to thank Kaiba, but even if he were still here, it's not like he could. No social interaction at school other than taunts, and Kaiba tended to be the one doing the taunting. Stretching out, he decided to let it go. He would thank him after work.

* * *

Of course things didn't necessarily work out like that, what with Katsuya having spent the rest of the day at school dwelling on it.

"Katsuya-kun, are you alright?" Arisa asked worriedly after noticing him staring off into space.

"Huh? Oh, no, I'm fine! I've just got something on my mind, that's all," he replied with a smile.

"Really? Because if there's anything I can help you with, anything at all, you can tell me. Onee-chan will help you!"

"Arisa! Stop being so nosey and get back to work!" yelled Mitsuko, from the other side of the room.

"You're so cruel! I wasn't being nosey! I just wanted to help Katsuya-kun!"

"Then you can help him by butting out of his personal business and getting back to work!"

"Yes…" said the red headed girl, hanging her head in submission.

He really did feel sorry for Arisa at times, though he was glad that Mistuko's yelling had stopped her from asking anymore.

"Sei-san, could you prepare Kaiba-sama's coffee, please?" asked Maya as she entered the room.

"Sure."

"Oh, would you be able to take it up to him as well? I really have to get started on these files."

"No problem."

"Uh, I'll take it up if you want," Katsuya blurted out suddenly.

"Eh? But you never deliver the tea, Katsuya-kun," said the bespectacled girl, pointing out the glaringly obvious.

"Yeah, uh, but, it's just that I've almost finished these so I figured I'd help out."

Sei shrugged. "Take them if you want, saves me the walk."

"Are you sure, Katuysa-kun?" asked Maya. "I know that you usually feel uncomfortable delivering the tea."

"No! No! It's fine, really," he cried, taking the tray from Sei. "I'll be right back!"

With that, he quickly left.

"Is it just me or was that rather suspicious?" Sei thought out loud, folding her arms.

"What do you mean?" asked Mitsuko, for once curious.

"It's like Arisa said, Jounouchi-kun never offers to take the tea."

The black haired girl gave a small shrug. "Maybe he was just being nice."

"Hmm, I don't think so. I mean he's been really out of it today, and then this…" Sei put her finger over her mouth as if in deep thought. "What is Jounouchi-kun's and the President's relationship anyway?"

"I thought they were classmates."

"I know that. But are they friends or something? Kaiba doesn't strike me as the kind of guy who'd have many friends, much less Jounouchi-kun as one. I mean, I know Kaiba's a student, but I never thought he'd hire someone still in high school."

"Now that you mention it…" Mitsuko started thoughtfully.

"Well, well, even practical Mitsuko-chan is interested," Sei laughed teasingly.

"Wow, Mitsuko-chan, even you want to know!" cried Arisa.

"I - I don't! It's none of my business who the President hires!"

"Ne, Maya-san, do you know why the President hired Jounouchi-kun?" Sei shouted over to the silver haired woman.

"Hmm, I believe Kaiba-sama is doing it as a favour to Katsuya-kun, to help him out with his financial situation." she replied, as she readied the files in front of her for photocopying.

"So, they've got to be old friends or something, right?"

"I suppose that makes sense. Kaiba-sama doesn't seem like he would give a job out to just anyone and as far as I'm aware, Jounouchi-kun didn't even require an interview." added Mitsuko.

"Eh? I thought you weren't interested?"

"I'm not! I was just making a general observation, that's all."

"That's so sweet of the President to give his old childhood friend a job!" gushed the red headed girl. "The President really is a kind, sincere person, and not cold-hearted like everyone says!"

"Actually, the President only met Katsuya-kun in high school, and from what I've heard, neither saw eye-to-eye and were always fighting whenever they saw each other," Maya refuted.

"So what, they hated each other then? Well, that sure as hell doesn't make sense…" sighed Sei.

"Hmm, it does seem strange that those two came to live with each other. Oh well, unless Katsuya-kun decides to disclose this information himself, then I suppose we will never know," the violet-eyed woman said with a smile.

"I guess - wait… what, living together!?"

"That's right."

"Since when!?"

"Oh, I believe that it would have been a week or so before Katsuya-kun started working here."

"So if they're not friends then…"

"They must be lovers!" cried Arisa, vocalising the disturbing thought that had just went across Sei's and Mitsuko's minds.

"Lovers, huh?"

"That is _so_ cute!" squealed Arisa, her cheeks turning red. "The powerful rich boy and the poor commoner! So romantic!"

"You're acting a little too excited, Arisa," coughed Mitsuko, trying to hide the blush on her own cheeks.

"Oh, I'm fairly sure that Kaiba-sama and Katsuya-kun aren't lovers," stated Maya. "I believe that it's what you would call, an odd situation."

"So they're not together? That's so disappointing…" replied Arisa, completely dejected.

Mitsuko coughed again. "Anyway, I believe that we should get back to our tasks, don't you think so, sempai?"

The older woman smiled. "I agree."

* * *

Katsuya knocked nervously on the door, his test paper scrunched up in his uniform pocket.

"What is it?" Kaiba's voice came from behind the door.

"I - I have your coffee!"

"Come in."

The blond boy opened the door, desperately trying not to drop Kaiba's coffee.

Seto eyed Jounouchi curiously. This was the first time he had ever brought him tea or coffee. In fact, the mutt hadn't been in his office since he first started working there.

"Uh, here." said Katsuya, placing the cup down on his desk.

"Thank you."

A minute or so passed, and glancing up from his work, Seto realised that Jounouchi was still standing there.

"Shouldn't you be getting back to work? I hope you didn't bring my coffee here as a mere excuse to avoid working," he stated coldly before taking a sip.

"Huh? What? No! Of - of course not! I'd never do that!" the brown-eyed boy cried defensively. "I - I just wanted to thank you, that's all." For some reason his heart had started beating rapidly as he fingered the piece of paper in his pocket.

"Haven't you thanked me already?" replied the brunette, questioningly. "If you have to do it again, can't it wait till after work?"

Katsuya frowned, and diverted his eyes feeling completely embarrassed. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Sorry." He turned around and quickly started to retreat, not realising the piece of paper had fallen out of his pocket.

As soon as he shut the door over, Seto immediately returned to work, only to stop a minute or two later. He let out a sigh. There was that annoying feeling again; the feeling he got whenever the mutt looked upset or disappointed.

"Stupid dog, wasting both his and my time." Then why was he more annoyed at himself?

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a crumbled piece of paper on the ground. Not being able to tolerate mess, he stood and picked it up. Unsure why, he straightened the sheet out, and his eyes widened when he realised exactly what it was.

"That mutt…"

* * *

Katsuya almost ran back to the office, trying to ignore the sudden pain in his chest. He was being stupid again he knew. He stopped to catch his breath, leaning against the wall around from his and girls office. He cursed at himself. When had he become so emotional? Since his father died? Or had he been like this all along? Why couldn't he wait till he had gotten back to Kaiba's before thanking him? Why had he been so desperate?

_Because you want his approval._

If someone had said this to him just a few months ago, he would have probably hit them. But now…now he couldn't deny it. Kaiba had become such an integral part of his life, how could he not care what he thought? His father had been a drunken bum who drank himself to his own death, but still he had wanted his father to be proud of him. Not that he ever was. Kaiba however was on a completely different level. And, of course, he had just gone and made a complete fool of himself.

Kaiba didn't need to know. He probably didn't even care. "Am I being selfish?"

"Jounouchi."

Katsuya jumped after turning around to find Kaiba standing there. "Uh, I'm not slacking off, I swear! I just stopped to -"

"You dropped this," the other teen interrupted, handing him a sheet of paper.

"My -"

"You did well."

The blond blinked. "Eh?"

"I knew that with a bit more help and concentration you could actually pass, but I never imagined you'd score this high. I guess you're not as big an idiot I had you pegged for."

"Uh, thanks, I guess." A small blush rose upon his cheeks. "Though I guess I should be the one thanking you for all your help. It's thanks to you that I passed after all."

"I helped you to study, but in the end, it was your own doing. When it came to the test you understood the material on your own without my assistance."

"Kaiba…"

"You should have more confidence in your own abilities, mutt."

"I -" he started, but instantly stopped. He had no idea what to say to that.

"Anyway, we both better get back to work."

"Uh, yeah."

Kaiba turned to leave, but paused for a moment. "For earlier... I'm…"

"Huh?" For the first time ever, the azure-eyed boy sounded like he was actually struggling.

"Nothing. I'll see you after work." With that, he swiftly left.

A soft smile swept across Katsuya's face. He knew what Kaiba had wanted to say.

He let out a contented sigh. Happy, nervous, disappointed, surprised and back to happy again. For a stoic, seemingly emotionless guy, Kaiba sure brought out a variety of different emotions on him. One emotion was missing however; a feeling that used to be prevalent whenever Kaiba was around; anger. He couldn't remember the last time he had been angry with Kaiba.

He gave a small chuckle as he looked down at the slightly less crumpled paper in his hands. "I guess stranger things have happened."

**Author's Notes: **I sincerely apologise for the five month period between the last update. Life has been rather hectic the past few months with starting a new job, doctors appointments, looking for and moving into my new flat amongst other things. On the bright side, I am half way through the next chapter so I promise I'll have it posted up within the next few weeks.

Again, thanks to the awesome Sappy for beta reading for, and to you guys for sticking with this fic! Constructive criticism and any advice on how I can improve are always appreciated.


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh, nor do I claim to do so.

**Chapter 12 **

Katsuya let out a contented sigh as he stretched out his arms. The bell had rung and the weekend had come once again.

"Hey, Jounouchi!" cried Yugi, his bag tossed over his shoulder ready to leave for the day. "Shouldn't you have left already for work? Usually you're the first person out the door."

"Nope! I have the day off."

"Really?" the shorter boy asked, surprised.

"Oh, uh, the store's closed for the day," Katsuya replied, hoping his lie sounded convincing enough. In actuality, Kaiba was away on a business trip and wouldn't be returning until the next day. For some reason he had told him to take the day off, despite the fact that the girls would still be working. Oh well, he decided not to question it too much considering he was still getting paid for it.

"That's great! It's been ages since you last had a day off!" replied Yugi, a huge grin on his face.

Katsuya couldn't help but smile back. "Yeah, we should all hang out today! Oh, or do you have to help Jii-chan out at the Game Shop?"

"I was supposed to, but it should be fine if I tell Jii-chan that I'm hanging out with you. He knows that you don't have a lot of free time so I'm sure he wouldn't mind."

"Awesome!" Katsuya shouted cheerfully. "Let's grab Honda and Anzu!"

"Oh. I think Anzu is working at the burger place today," stated the wide-eyed boy sadly.

"Man, now that I think about it, Honda said something about his mum making him baby-sit his little brother. Oh well, I guess it's just you and me then."

As they left the building, Jounouchi shivered as a strong autumn breeze whirled past them. He couldn't believe that it was almost winter.

"God, it's cold," he said, wrapping his arms tightly around himself.

"You really should start wearing a jacket to school."

"I know, I know. I'll start wearing one." It was strange, but the first thing that came to mind was Kaiba. He had yelled at him a couple of times before, saying that he should take care of himself better if he didn't want to become sick. If he saw him now shivering, he probably would have chewed him out as soon as they returned home.

Kaiba… He wondered what he was doing now.

"So, are you wanting to head to the arcade?" questioned Yugi as they walked along the street.

"Actually, would it be alright if we hung out at your place?"

"Sure!" replied the smaller boy, smiling. "Jii-chan will be glad to see you."

* * *

A few hours later, Katsuya was sat in Yugi's living room. Not surprisingly, Yugi's Grampa had roped them into helping him out for a few hours. He didn't mind, however. He still got to spend time with Yugi after all. Plus, there were the kids raving about how awesome they were, being world champion duelists and all – though most of the admiration was directed towards Yugi.

"Here you go," said Yugi as he walked into the room with a tray of cookies and juice.

"My mum made these this morning. They're really good."

"Thanks," replied Katsuya as he took a bite out of one. "Hey, these are good!" As he reached for another, he couldn't help but think of his own mother. Did she used to make cookies when he was a kid, or did she just spend the entire time yelling at his father? He honestly couldn't remember. And it wasn't something he particularly wanted to ask Shizuka about. He would ask her how their mum was, but as soon as she replied he would swiftly move on to another topic of conversation.

"Wanna watch some TV?" Yugi asked, awaking him from his solemn memories.

"Sure."

"Not that there's anything good on," the shorter boy sighed before finally settling on some action movie that from the looks of it was almost over.

"You seem pretty happy lately." Yugi spoke sometime later, as the credits were beginning to roll.

"Huh?" Katsuya turned from the TV to look at him.

"I don't know. You just seem different lately," the multi-colour-haired boy replied, struggling to find the right words. "Like you enjoy going to work. And even though you hardly have any free time, you still seem cheerful. Could it be that you've met someone?"

Katsuya almost choked on his drink, spluttering it over the floor. "Ah, s-sorry!" he cried before quickly rushing to the kitchen and grabbing a towel. "Of-Of-course I've not met anyone!"

"Really?"

"I-I would tell you guys!" he retorted as his cheeks flushed, having no idea why he felt so embarrassed all of a sudden.

"I believe you," replied Yugi, nodding and smiling innocently. "Still, you must have made a new friend there, at least. Did someone new start?"

"Uh…kinda."

"I'm glad you have someone there to talk to. I always wanted to visit you at work to keep you company, even for just a little bit, but since your manager doesn't allow that sort of thing…"

"Yeah…" An image of Kaiba entered his mind, and his face reddened further. God, what was wrong with him?

"Jounouchi-kun, are you all right?" asked Yugi, his voice filled with concern.

"I'm fine, I swear! Anyway, I think better get going," he said, pushing himself up. "Thanks a lot for having me over."

"It's no problem. I'm just glad that we got to spend some time together."

He followed Katsuya to the door. "Hopefully next time you're off, Anzu and Honda will be free too."

"Yeah, that'd be good! Anyway, see you on Monday!"

Just as he had started to walk off, his friend called out after him. "Jounouchi-kun!"

"What is it?" the blond asked, confused.

"Um, aren't you going the wrong way?"

"Huh?"

"Your house - isn't it in that direction?" questioned Yugi, pointing the opposite way.

Katsuya froze up for a moment. _Shit. _

"Yeah…yeah… of-course! I-I just need to grab something from the store."

"But isn't your store that way too?" the small teenager asked curiously.

A bead of sweat ran down the side of his head. "It-It's another store!" he laughed awkwardly. "Yeah, another store!"

"Oh. Well, okay then. Guess I'll see you on Monday. Bye!"

As soon as he closed the door, Katsuya let out a huge sigh of relief. "Th-That was close. Thank God for Yugi's naivety! If it had been Honda or Anzu on the other hand…"

* * *

When Katsuya arrived at the Kaiba mansion, he spent ten minutes or so searching for Mokuba, hoping that the younger of the Kaiba brothers hadn't yet had dinner. While Kaiba had told him to just inform one of the servants what he wanted to eat and that they would get the chef to make it for him, he felt rather awkward about it.

"Hey Jounouchi!" shouted Mokuba, his black mop of hair appearing out of nowhere.

"Geez, you almost gave me a heart attack! Don't do that!"

"Sorry," he replied mockingly. Yeah, he had definitely inherited some of his brother's traits. "Want to get dinner?"

For the second time that hour Katsuya let out a sigh of relief. "Sure. So you haven't eaten yet?"

"Nah, I figured I'd wait for you. Plus Nii-sama told me to make sure that you'd eat."

"Huh? Why?" He blinked, confused.

"He said :'Knowing that idiot, he'll probably feel too uncomfortable to ask the chef to make him something. Make sure the mutt eats something.'" Mokuba quoted his brother. "So basically I was tasked with feeding the dog."

"Oh well, th- Hey, wait a minute!" he yelled, whacking the younger boy softly on the head with his fist.

Still, despite being referred to as an idiot and mutt, it was kind of nice for Kaiba to think about him like that. Again, he felt his cheeks start to burn.

"Hey, I was thinking we could go out to dinner. Get a burger or something," suggested the younger boy, recovering from being hit on the head.

Katsuya shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

* * *

As they ordered their meals, Katsuya thanked God, that Anzu wasn't working this shift. It would be pretty hard to come up with an excuse as to why he was hanging out with Kaiba's younger brother. Not that his group hadn't been seen with Mokuba before, it just tended to be in dangerous situations, usually surrounding the death of his brother or somewhat. That and Katsuya wasn't known as being overly fond of the kid. How times had changed.

"This is great!" cried Mokuba, his mouth filled with food.

"You're telling me!" Katsuya tried yelling back, but his mouth was too full of food. He really did appreciate fast food, and while the meals he got at Kaibas' were great, it had been ages since he had been here.

"Hey, what are you thinking about?" asked Mokuba, suddenly noticing that Katsuya had stopped eating.

"Oh, I was just wondering how Kaiba's meeting went."

Mokuba gave a small chuckle.

"What's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing," the raven haired boy replied, feigning innocence. "So, what do you think of Nii-sama?"

"Huh? What do I think of Kaiba?"

"Still think he's an arrogant asshole?" questioned Mokuba, his voice strangely devoid of emotion.

"Wait! I never thought-" Abruptly he stopped, realising that what he was about to say was in fact a complete lie. "He-He's arrogant. But I…I don't think he's an asshole. How could I? After he's been so kind to me..." He felt his chest tighten. "If he hadn't found me that night, I-"

"So is Nii-sama your friend?"

"Fr-Friend?" Katsuya spluttered, "I-I don't think- We, uh… He doesn't think… I, uh… well I would like to think we are bu-but-"

He continued to stutter on. Mokuba, on the other hand, just smiled. "I'm glad. Although, he would never admit it, Nii-sama feels the same way too."

"Really?" cried Katsuya, suddenly perking up. "Wait. How can you tell?"

"We're brothers, of course I know." The boy replied with a wink. "Anyway, let's finish our burgers and get out of here. I have a new game to show you. You brought your wallet, right?"

"What!? I-I'm paying?!"

"Well, you wouldn't expect a poor little kid to pay for dinner, after all."

"In no way in hell does _poor _factor into this!"

After he had eventually paid and returned home, Katsuya found it difficult to keep a smile from his face; a fact Mokuba quite obviously noted.

* * *

One of the annoying things about getting up at the same time each day was that no matter how late you stayed up the night before, your internal body clock would wake you up shortly after your usual time. Again, he had the day off and with Kaiba not around he spent the morning studying. Or trying to at the very least, as irritatingly he found himself continually glancing up at the clock wondering when Kaiba would get back. He kept getting urges to go downstairs and check, knowing that he wouldn't be able to hear from his room. But wouldn't that seem a bit…well, weird? He had no idea why he wanted to see the other teen so much in the first place.

Sighing, he resigned himself and stood. He would hurry downstairs and check then swiftly return to studying.

Poking his head around the main living room entrance, he saw Mokuba sat on the huge couch playing one his many game consoles.

"Nii-sama still isn't home yet." said the raven haired boy, not taking his eyes away from the screen. Katsuya almost jumped. "He'll be home soon."

"Wh-What are you talking about? I-I just came down to see what you were up to," he laughed, scratching the back of his head.

"Uh-huh." Katsuya's brow twitched. The kid was sharp.

"Mokuba, isn't there a more productive way you could be spending your time?" This time Katsuya actually jumped, turning around to see Kaiba standing behind him.

"Nii-sama!" The young boy declared happily, jumping off the couch to greet his brother.

"How did the meeting go?" the younger Kaiba asked, genuinely interested.

Kaiba then spouted out some random numbers and statistics that Katsuya couldn't understand, but given the approving noises that Mokuba was making, he gathered that overall it went quite well.

"That's great! We should celebrate, Nii-sama!"

"I'm afraid I have a lot of work to-"

"Nii-sama! We haven't spent proper time together in so long," wailed the younger boy, putting on the most convincing pout Katsuya had ever seen. "I'm beginning to feel neglected."

Kaiba let out a sigh, making it clear to Katsuya that he was used to his brother's demands. "Fine. How would you like to celebrate?"

The blond-haired boy opened his mouth in shock. Since when the hell did Kaiba give up without a fight? Then again, considering he would bend over backwards for Shizuka, he figured he had no right to talk…

"Well, there's a movie I've been really wanting to see. We should all go see that! Right, Jounouchi?"

Katsuya blinked. "Uh, me too?"

"Of course! We're not going to leave you here! How about it, Nii-sama?"

"Fine," the elder Kaiba replied, trying to suppress another sigh.

"Great! I'll go book the tickets!" And with that, Mokuba hurried off, leaving Katsuya alone with Kaiba. Though for some reason, Katsuya found himself having no clue what to say to the other teen.

He felt his face redden as he stood there stupidly and was on the urge of bolting out the room when Kaiba finally spoke.

"Did you do anything last night?"

"Huh? Oh, I uh, hung out with Yugi."

"I see."

"Um, I- Oh, congratulations on your meeting! I guess it went really well then?"

"As well as could be expected. Now if you excuse me, I have some work to attend to," the brunette replied, pushing past him.

Strangely, Katsuya felt his heart tighten as he watched Kaiba walk away. What had he expected? For Kaiba to tell him that he missed him? As if.

"Ah! There's something seriously wrong with me!" he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose as he fell on to the couch. He just wasn't sure what.

* * *

Kaiba let out an irritated sigh as he shuffled through the papers on his desk for what must have been the twentieth time that day. Something was troubling him and he was unable to ascertain just exactly what the cause was. Okay, that was a lie. He knew but didn't _know _as such. It was frustrating. The deal had gone well, Kaibacorp's stock had increased immensely once again; surely that merited some form of satisfaction even from him? And yet he found himself confounded by constant thoughts of his employee/schoolmate/semi-rival.

Not one to take any notice of other peoples lives, barring his brother's, he found himself often wondering what the annoying mutt was doing. When they were at home/school/work he knew, but when he had gone for that night he hadn't a clue what Jounouchi was doing. Though he had suspected he would be hanging around his idiotic friends, but still…

And yet when he returned home he had barely said anything at all; completely shrugged him off. He had always found people with conflicting emotions to be weaklings and not in control of their own lives and yet here he was thinking one thing and doing the exact opposite.

Thankfully he was saved from shuffling his papers twenty more times as he glanced at the clock on his laptop. They'd have to leave soon if they wanted to catch the film. An entire day with the mutt wasn't what he needed right now, but Mokuba would be there so if he could just get through the day being his usual silent indifferent self then everything would be alright.

Or so he had thought anyway…

"What do you mean you're not coming to the cinema with us?" Seto demanded. It was one of the few times he was visibly taken aback.

"I'm really sorry, Nii-sama! I completely forgot that I promised my friend that I'd go over to his and help him with his homework!" cried the raven-haired boy, bowing his head.

"Can't you just arrange to help him another day?"

"But the homework's got to be handed in tomorrow! Plus you always say not to cancel something unless absolute necessary as it gives people a bad impression, and that in the world of business, impressions mean everything," Mokuba replied, throwing his brother's words right back at him.

"Fine. If that's the case, then I'll return to-"

"You and Jounouchi can still go!"

"Mokuba, the only reason we were going in the first place was because of yo-"

"You also said not to waste things! There are people in the world who are much less fortunate than us like Jounouchi that aren't afforded such privileges in this world. For his and all the other poor people in the world we must enjoy it for them!" the youngest Kaiba declared triumphantly.

Katsuya's brow twitched. Why was it that whenever referencing poor people he was the example directly used?

"Plus, Nii-sama, when was the last time you went out and enjoyed yourself? You and Jounouchi have both been working so hard, don't you think you deserve a break?"

There was a minute or so of silence as the Kaiba brothers stared each other down and Katsuya had to take a step back, almost seeing the static waves between them.

"Fine," stated Seto, finally relenting. "Let's go, mutt, or else we'll miss the film."

"Huh? O-Okay!" cried Katsuya quickly walking after Kaiba as he left, still not entirely sure what was going on.

"Have a good time, Nii-sama, Jounouchi!" shouted Mokuba as he waved them off.

At that moment, Mokuba looked so innocent and Katsuya and probably Seto, too, knew it was at this time he was to be most feared.

* * *

Not surprisingly, the cinema they ended up going to was located in Kaibaland. Katsuya leaned against a wall and sighed as he waited for Kaiba to pick up the tickets that Mokuba had ordered. It felt incredibly odd to be out somewhere with Kaiba when it didn't involved either duelling or work. He didn't count school as they barely spoke there.

He felt his cheeks redden slightly whenever someone glanced over and recognised Kaiba. "They must be wondering what punk like me is doing with someone like Kaiba."

"What are you mumbling about, mutt?" the brunette questioned as he handed the other teen his ticket.

"Oh, uh nothing! Shall we go in? I think it's about to start."

Judging by the amount of people occupying the screen, Katsuya figured that it was probably the movie's opening weekend. Speaking of which…

"Kaiba, uh, what movie is it we're actually going to be watching?"

"Mokuba said it was called 'Sphere'," Seto replied, staring straight on to the screen as the lights started to dim.

"'Sphere'? Well, that's a weird name for a movie. I hope it's not some romance film. Then again, why would a kid Mokuba's age wanna watch something like that? Last time we went to the movies, Anzu made us see this total chick flick. The lead actress was pretty hot but other than that it was sh-"

"Mutt, as you are stupidly oblivious to the people staring at us right now, I would kindly ask you on their behalf to shut up," stated Seto, trying to hide the irritation in his voice so as not to create a scene.

"Huh?" Glancing around, Katsuya was greeted by numerous death glares from his fellow cinema-goers. "Ah, s-sorry!" he yelled turning straight around and sinking down into his seat.

Katsuya watched the future movie trailers intently. Usually he would go on about how he wanted to see such and such a movie to Honda and the others, and then become depressed knowing that he wouldn't have the time or the money to actually come see them. But right now he didn't feel that way, not at all. It was like for the first time in his life, he actually felt content.

Of course, that contentment would disperse in a few minutes time as he suddenly realised from the gruesome images on screen that this film was neither a romance nor a chick-flick.

It…It was a horror film! He would have gladly sat through ten chick-flicks if it meant he could avoid something like this. He glanced over to Kaiba who not surprisingly seemed to have no reaction to the grotesque images on screen. He hated scary, supernatural stuff like this with a passion. The moment someone mentioned the word 'ghost' he would automatically try and change the subject. He tensed, wondering if he should tell Kaiba that he felt sick and wanted to go home. It wasn't like he could tell him the truth after all.

Then again, Kaiba had gone to the trouble of paying for the tickets and coming here. It would be pretty rude to just get up and leave…

Ah, he could do this! He was one the greatest duelists in the world, he had faced death several times. No cursed disc could frighten him! – was what he wanted to say. But the moment he saw something flicker on the television set on screen he yelped loudly and instantly grabbed onto the arm of his chair, clenching on to it for dear life.

He remained this way, eyes shut tight for several minutes until he was sure that the scary part was over with. He let out a small sigh of relief and was just about to let go when he noticed the somewhat uncomfortable expression on Kaiba's face, and it dawned upon him that he wasn't currently clenching his seat, but Kaiba's arm.

"Ah!" He cried loudly and instantly let. "I-I'm sorry! I-I didn't mean to! I-I thought- the chair, it-"

Everyone in the surrounding seating turned around and stared, some whispering 'shhhh!' loudly.

Not replying, Kaiba folded his arms and continued on watching the movie. Never had Katsuya felt that he wanted the ground to open up and swallow him as he did now. It was a complete mistake! He hadn't meant to grab Kaiba's arm! Not at all!

Great, so not only would Kaiba think he was a complete wuss, but a freak too. Not only that…But grabbing hold of someone's arm when they're scared, was something that girls do with their boyfriends…

His entire face was burning, and he thanked God, that at least the cinema was dark. Though he had a feeling it would still be this way by time the film finished.

Ah! How the hell was he supposed to face Kaiba after that!?

The next half an hour of the film wasn't _too _bad. There were scares here and there, but nothing major. But, by now the film was coming to its climax, which meant…

Katsuya bit down on his lip, as the television on screen became all static-like. And, oh shit, some scary chick was walking towards the screen. He started to grip on to his jeans, digging his nails sharply into the material.

Oh God, oh, God, that guy was totally going to die! But then the most unexpected thing happened…But not in the movie. Katsuya blinked a few times. Outstretched was Kaiba's arm.

"You're hurting yourself, you idiot. If you hold on to someone else, you'll feel more secure."

Glancing back up at the screen, the blond instantly grabbed hold of his arm, trying not to hurt him too much as the frightening girl on screen killed her victim.

Soon after, the credits began to roll, signalling that the film was over, yet Katsuya still found himself latched on to his boss. "Ah! S-Sorry!"

"It-It's fine," Seto replied, his face turned away so the mutt couldn't see the rare red tinge on his cheeks.

They waited until the cinema hall was mostly clear before leaving, Seto not wanting to deal with all those people getting in his way. He sat in silence and Katsuya didn't say anything either.

He stood up and a few moments later, Katsuya followed him. They walked through the streets of Kaibaland, Katsuya a few steps behind him. Looked like the mutt was just as embarrassed as he was.

"Why didn't you say you didn't like those sort of films?" he finally asked.

"Oh, well, you had already paid for the tickets, and I didn't want them to go to waste so…"

The taller boy sighed loudly. "You're such an idiot."

"I know," Katsuya replied, causing him to turn around in surprise. The mutt wasn't meeting his eyes. With a softer sigh, Seto suddenly changed direction leading them to a small stall.

"What flavour do you want?"

"Huh?" questioned Katsuya, looking up. They were at an ice cream vendor. "Oh! I don-"

"What flavour do you want!? Hurry it up, mutt!" Seto yelled.

"St-Strawberry!"

"Can I have two strawberry ice creams, please?" said the brunette, handing over the money to the vendor.

He then held out the cone for Katsuya. "Here."

"Thanks," Katsuya replied, taking it in confusion.

"Whenever Mokuba got scared, I would buy him an ice cream," Seto admitted hesitantly. "He said that it always made him feel better."

"Kaiba…" Katsuya suddenly found himself lost for words. The only thing he could do was smile and say "Thank you."

"You better have finished it by the time we get to the limo. There's no way in hell I'm letting you in it with that," responded Seto, trying his hardest to sound stern but not quite pulling it off.

Katsuya just laughed. "Hey, have you never seen me eat food? I'll have this devoured within a minute!"

"Yes, but then you'll get-"

"Ah! Ah! Ah!"

"…Brain freeze."

"It hurts!" Katsuya cried.

Seto sighed. "Well, I did attempt to tell you."

"Next time, tell me sooner!"

"Just enjoy your damn ice cream, mutt!"

* * *

**Authors Notes: **Finally, chapter 12! I really can't believe that it's gone this long. When I first started writing this I figured I would be lucky if the story got up to eight chapters. I'm also shocked that the story has over 100 reviews. I never thought it was possible that something I wrote would get that many. Thanks so much to everyone for all the support! And to Sappy for beta-reading for me!

I apologise for the slow pace the story has being going. But now that Katsuya and Seto have acknowledged that they enjoy each others company I can finally have them realise that the closeness suddenly developing between them is romantic in nature. Not that it'll come angst free of course.

Reviews are love! Constructive criticism and any advice on how I can improve are most welcome.


	13. Chapter 13

**Author Notes: **I'm so very very sorry for taking so long to update this. Again real life has been a bitch lately.

**Disclaimer: **In no shape or form do I own any of the rights to Yu-Gi-Oh.

**Chapter 13**

It was the early hours of the morning when Seto heard the knock on his bedroom door.

Glancing up from his laptop, he called for the person to enter.

If Mokuba was still up playing games at this hour, he was going to give the boy a stern talking to. But to his surprise, his blond-haired houseguest walked in.

Wrapped up in a blanket, Seto had no idea what he could possibly want in the middle of the night.

"What is it, mutt?" he questioned, returning to type on his laptop.

"Oh, uh, nothing, I just wanted to see if you were still awake, that's all," Katsuya laughed nervously, scratching the back of his head.

"Well, I am. Is that all?" the brunet replied flatly.

The other teenager's eyebrow twitched for a second, and then staring down at the ground sheepishly, he mumbled something that Seto couldn't quite make out.

"How the hell do you expect me to understand you if you mutter like that? Speak up."

"I said 'would it be okay if I sat with you for a little while!'" he repeated, yelling now.

"And why would you want to do that?" Seto asked, now quite curious about the mutt's random visit.

Katsuya blinked before his cheeks started to redden. "Huh? Oh, there's no reason, really…"

Seto had stopped typing now, fixing the other boy with an amused smirk. "Well, if you came here for no good reason then I suggest you-"

"Fine!" Katsuya interrupted, "I…I had…a bad dream."

"A bad dream?" Seto questioned, the surprise in his voice overtaking his previous condescending tone.

"Ma…Madako, she came to kill me!"

"Madako? What are you talking-" he paused for a moment, realisation sinking in. "You mean the girl from that movie we saw last week?"

Katsuya gave a small nod, unable to hide his embarrassment. Seto was about to question why he was so scared over a film he saw almost a week ago but then remembered just how scared Katsuya had gotten when they had watched it. Unconsciously he glanced down at the arm he had willing let the other boy hold on to.

"I know it's stupid, okay? Go ahead and laugh if you want. But I…I…don't like scary things," he replied, and from the dejection in his voice, Seto couldn't help but feel slightly sorry for him.

"Fine, you can stay. I'll be up a little while longer going over these reports, anyway."

Katsuya looked over, shock registering on his face, but Seto had already returned to his work. Part of him was so sure he would receive a 'you're so pathetic, mutt,' or a 'don't waste my time'. But now that he hadn't…

He gave Seto a sincere smile despite knowing he wasn't even looking at him. "Thank you."

He went over and sat on Seto's bed, pulling out a textbook from underneath the covers that he had wrapped around himself. He knew that by coming here he wouldn't get any long talks with Kaiba, he just wanted some company. He also didn't want to get in the other boy's way and so he had brought the textbook to occupy himself.

Halfway through the first page of the chapter he had just started on, he suddenly couldn't concentrate as he felt a pair of eyes watching him. Glancing up, he found Seto staring straight at him.

"Ka-Kaiba?" He couldn't help but feel intimidated as those ice-blue eyes bore into him. "Was I speaking out loud or something?" Instead of reading in his head, Katsuya found himself reading stuff out loud without even realising it, much to his embarrassment. Seto had yelled at him several times about it before. The annoying thing was, however, that he didn't even know he was doing it, so he couldn't really be blamed!

"If you want I'll lea-"

"If you hate scary things so much, then isn't Mutou Yugi a bad choice in friend, considering all the strange occurrences he's been involved in?" Seto interrupted.

Katsuya's eyes widened briefly, taken aback by the sudden question. The strange thing was that there was no hint of mocking in Seto's question. He was serious.

"Kaiba…"

"Isn't it only natural to hate someone who pulled you into such troubling matters against your will? Why choose to remain with such a person if it only leads to situations where your fears are aggravated and pain is forced upon you? You followed Yugi around, but you only received distress in return. Was it really worth-"

"You're wrong!" Katsuya shouted out suddenly. "Yugi…Yugi is someone I owe everything to! If it wasn't for him, I would have given up long ago. He…He showed me what friendship really meant." He gave a small smile. "It's true, that all the things we went through were scary, and there were so many times when I thought I would die. But I tried to forget about that. I just wanted to help my friends. I think I ended up being more of a nuisance than help, but if I had something, someone to fight for, then in the end it didn't matter what hardships there were. Yugi was there and he refused to give up, so I couldn't either. Besides, when we went on those adventures, I could forget about the real world."

Staring down at the floor he gripped the covers around him tightly to his chest. "I…I think those days where the only time I was truly happy. That's why I couldn't let myself become a burden to Yugi and the others. They'd already done so much for me that I didn't want to trouble them."

"I see," Seto replied simply.

"Though ,I guess because of that, I ended up just creating trouble for you." He laughed weakly. Then, lifting his head to gaze straight at the other teenager, he asked, "Kaiba…When you told me that I wasn't a burden, did you really mean it?"

Now it was Seto's turn to be surprised. He stared backed at the blond boy, reading what he thought was fear in his face. Yes, Jounouchi was a burden to him. Or so he once thought... But now, could he really say the same thing? Shouldn't he hate the mutt for inadvertently barging into his life and turning his life upside down; for making him feel such things?

"What I said…it was true."

Katsuya's dark eyes widened, "Re-Really?"

"Idiot," Seto replied, with an indignant snort. "If you were that much of an inconvenience, there would be no way I would let you live here. As generous as you might think I am, my patience wears thin when it comes to such annoyances."

Katsuya gave a small chuckle. "That's true. But I still owe you big time, and though you may think I won't be able to, I promise that one day I will pay you back. Even if it's the last thing I do."

"Such dedication," Seto said before turning back to his laptop. After all, he had to make sure that the mutt didn't catch a glimpse of the sudden smile on his face. "If that's the case, then I will hold you to it. Now, if you're done with the mindless chatter, I would like to get back to work."

"Hey, you're the one who started talking by asking that question!"

However, a sharp glare from the other teen quickly shut Katsuya up. "Okay, okay, I'll be quiet," he replied, picking his textbook back up.

A short while passed and Seto let out a soft sigh as he realised that if he didn't want to be exhausted for the entire day then he should probably try and get some sleep. The rest of the reports would just have to wait until tomorrow.

As he closed down his laptop, he realised that the mutt was still in the room, and yet he hadn't heard a peep from him since telling him to be quiet. The other boy staying silent for any decent amount of time was pretty much an impossibility. Standing up, he glanced over to find him fast asleep on his bed, curled around the blanket he had brought and the textbook discarded on the floor.

Damn, even when the mutt was asleep, he was causing trouble for him. What he really wanted to do was kick him off his bed and demand that he return to his own room. But after seeing the peaceful look on his face…

With a soft groan, he brought his hand to his face. He felt embarrassed for questioning Jounouchi like that, but for the first time in a long while, he found himself peculiarly curious about another person. Someone who was neither a business rival nor a rival when it came to Duel Monsters, though he had a feeling the mutt would protest that. It was also unsettling in that what he said to him was true; he did not think of him as a burden. In fact, he almost liked having him around…

Ever since he came here, things had become different. He had changed. And Mokuba, even he seemed to have noticed this easily.

"What the hell are you doing to me, mutt?" he whispered. "Making me feel such useless emotions…"

"_Don't get too attached to him, Mokuba, he'll be gone soon enough and we can return to our normal lives."_

Hadn't he said that? How ironic that in the end he was the one becoming so attached. Who knows, perhaps even when he had said that he had already formed an attachment to him?

The boy before him was so vulnerable. He had never realised that before. He had always thought of the mutt as headstrong, overconfident and an idiot. However, in actuality, he was the exact opposite.

"I used to call you a useless dog all the time, didn't I? I wonder…dd it make you sad?"

He would still berate him even now, but in the end, there was no true ill intention in it. And thankfully, even the supposed idiot before him seemed to realise.

All of a sudden, a strange compulsion came over him and before he could even think it through his hand was gently rested on Katsuya's head, his smooth blond hair brushing against his fingers.

He stood like that for an entire minute, gazing down at the boy before him when realisation hit and his heart skipped a beat. Quickly, he pulled his hand away as if he had just been burned. Thankfully, Katsuya did not wake.

With a deep breath, he turned and left the room.

*********************************************************************

"Uh, what time is it?" Katsuya asked himself groggily as he woke up to the sun shining straight in his eyes. He shuddered slightly and it was only then did he realise that his legs were tangled in an awkward position.

Yawning, he sat up and gazed around, his eyes taking a few moments to adjust. "Wait…this isn't my room, is it?"

Feeling instantly more alert, he quickly stood up. "Eh? This is Kaiba's room? What the hell am I doing in here? And where is Kaiba?" he asked frantically to no one in particular.

His blanket was here and he hadn't slept in Kaiba's bed. Though from the looks of it Kaiba hadn't either, the sheets perfectly folded neatly in place. It was then that he noticed the textbook cast aside on the floor and realisation hit.

He must have fallen asleep right there… he cheeks started to burn a little. Why was it that lately he was doing so many embarrassing things around Kaiba?

He let out a sigh and had planned on sulking about it a little while longer, but seeing the clock on the wall he gathered that he had better move his ass if he wanted to grab breakfast before school. And when it came down to it, food ranked a lot higher on his priorities than sulking did.

As he bolted downstairs, he was surprised to see Mokuba still sat at the table.

"Mokuba, you're still here? I thought you'd have left already."

"My class has an assembly first period so I figured I'd go in late."

"Your brother will be really pissed if he knows you're skipping school," replied Katsuya, taking a slice of toast.

"I'm not skipping, I'm still gonna go. Plus assemblies are so incredibly boring and such a waste of time," sighed the raven-haired boy.

He couldn't disagree with the kid.

"Anyway, did you sleep with my brother last night?"

Katsuya instantly spat out the orange juice he was drinking, almost choking in the process. "Wh…what!? Of-Of course not!"

"Eh? But when I went to wake Nii-sama up this morning because I knew he wanted to wake up early, he came out of one of the guest rooms and said you were asleep in his so not to go in," Mokuba questioned, confused.

The blond boy let out a sigh. The kid was asking if he had slept in his brother's room, of course that's what he meant.

"Are you okay, Jounouchi? Your face is a little red."

"Oh, I-I'm fine!" he laughed awkwardly. Damn bastard, making him all embarrassed and he wasn't even here. Still, he had to admit he felt pretty stupid. There's no way an innocent little kid like Mokuba would think of it in any other way.

In any case he went on to explain the circumstances that led to him sleeping in Kaiba's room."

"That's it?" the younger Kaiba asked dejectedly. "Man, I was hoping for something more exciting."

"Mo-more exciting?" A bead of sweat ran down Katsuya's head.

"Anyway, shouldn't you be going soon?" Mokuba intervened.

Turning around to look at the clock he almost had a heart attack. "Shit! I'm gonna be late!"

"Gosh, Jounouchi you're so irresponsible."

Not even having enough time to retort, he rushed out the door.

Mokuba gave a small chuckle, though not so much at Jounouchi being late but his brother's sudden softness.

"Nii-sama, you even let Jounouchi sleep in your room. I would tease you about it, but I don't want you to stop. Good luck, Nii-sama!"

********************************************************************

Not surprisingly, Katsuya was late for class. Thankfully, his teacher merely gave an exasperated sigh and told him to sit down rather than make him stand in the hallway like a little kid.

A few of the other students laughed and as he walked to his desk he caught a glimpse of Kaiba sitting at the back of the class. However, that one single glance was all it took to make his cheeks turn completely red. Yeah, this was going to be a long day.

Thankfully, despite being in the same class, school wasn't a place where he had much contact with Kaiba. He would sometimes gaze over from his desk during lunch as Kaiba sat there alone reading a book. There were so many times when he wanted to ask him to join him, Yugi and the others. But there was no way he could do that; his cover would be blown. That, and Kaiba would tell him to piss right off anyway.

It was always during this time that he realised he was continuously lying to his friends. To them he and Kaiba still despised each other, though Honda had noted that they didn't really argue anymore. There had been one time in the hall when he had accidentally walked into Kaiba. Kaiba had called him 'a worthless dog' and told him to watch where the hell he was going. He couldn't exactly explain why those words had hurt him so much; why seeing Kaiba's cold dark gaze boring into him hurt to damn much. At that time, he couldn't reply; couldn't argue venomously like was expected. Instead he just stood there, and it was Honda who defended him. Kaiba didn't say anything and merely walked away.

Thankfully, when Honda called him on it, he got away with saying he felt sick and that suddenly walking into someone made his stomach ache. His friend had given him a strange questioning look at the time but for the most part seemed to accept it.

At work that night he made some excuse to Maya so he could go to Kaiba's office. He had needed to know that Kaiba hadn't meant it, that he didn't…that he didn't hate him.

Kaiba had replied in his usual stoic manner saying that yes, he really should watch where the hell he was going, but upon seeing the hurt look on his employee's face he hastened to add that he wasn't really mad, and that he didn't mean it about Katsuya being worthless.

The blond had smiled when he heard this, as if a huge weight stamping down on his chest had suddenly being lifted and that after an entire day of almost suffocating, could finally breathe again.

Somehow now, he always seemed to need the millionaire to reassure him.

*********************************************************************

When Katsuya arrived at work that day he was greeted by an incredibly hyperactive Arisa.

"Happy Halloween!" she cried, grabbing hold of Katsuya and hugging him.

"Arisa-san!" yelled Mitsuko, a mixture of shock and anger on her face. "Don't just throw yourself on someone like that!"

"But it's Halloween; a special occasion! Therefore I have to give my friend a special greeting!" she justified, smiling cheerfully.

"That's not the point!"

"Ah, Mitsuko-chan is scary!" the bespectacled girl wailed, holding on to Katsuya tighter.

"Relax, Mitsuko," said Sei, putting a hand on the dark-haired girl's shoulder. "Arisa greeted everyone this way. Or could it be that you're jealous-"

"Sei-san…" Mistuko began warningly.

"I'm joking, I'm joking!" Sei quickly replied.

"It's Halloween already?" Katsuya questioned, surprised. "I didn't even realise."

"Halloween is great! It's the only time you can dress up in costumes and go around your daily business without people thinking you're a weirdo!" Arisa declared proudly.

"I, on the other hand would dispute that," sighed Mitsuko. "A women of your age…"

"But-but it's fun!"

"Hello, Katsuya-kun," A woman greeted him from behind.

"Ah, Maya-san! How're you doing?" he asked, hanging up his jacket.

"I'm fine, thank you," she replied in her usual polite manner. "How was school, today?"

"Oh, it was all right." Inwardly, he sighed. He really hadn't taken much in, being too busy thinking about the night before.

"Have you had a good Halloween so far?"

"Actually I completely forgot about it," he replied, scratching the back of his head, embarrassed that everyone apart from him seemed to know.

"I love Halloween. It really is a lot of fun," she said, her face lighting up.

"Really?" he asked, surprised that someone like Maya-san would enjoy a holiday that so many people considered childish.

"Oh yes. When I was studying in America, my friend took me to a huge Halloween party. Everyone had such interesting costumes and I met a lot of people that night. I suppose that could be the reason I enjoy it so much."

Katsuya smiled. He really liked Maya and couldn't help but think of her as a motherly figure - kind, pure and caring.

"Great! Now that Katsuya-kun is here, we can draw straws!" the auburn-haired girl announced excitedly.

The blond blinked. "Straws?"

"Yep! We have a costume and the person who picks the shortest straw gets to wear it!"

"Uh, doesn't drawing a short straw mean that you have to do something you don't want to do? Isn't wearing the costume something you do wanna do, Arisa-san?" Katsuya questioned, confused.

He wasn't entirely sure if he saw it or if it was his mind playing tricks on him but for a moment he swore he saw something approaching a rather evil grin on Arisa's face. It was… terrifying.

"Come on, everyone!" the girl continued on excitedly. Yeah, must have been his imagination.

"This is ridiculous," Mitsuko complained. "Maya-san, do we really have to do this?"

But her superior's hand was already hovering above Arisa's hand, ready to choose.

"I'm sure it will be very fun." A bead of sweat ran down the dark-haired girl's face.

"You know, maybe I should sit this one out, being a guy and all?"

"No! No! No! We waited specifically for you! We have to do this as team, Katsuya-kun! Do you understand? A team!"

A bead of sweat also ran down the side of Katsuya's face. Arisa was really getting into this. "Uh-uh, okay."

Sei chose first, followed by Maya, followed by a reluctant Mitsuko, a scarily cheerful Arisa and lastly, a terrified Katsuya.

As they examined their straws, a shriek of excitement echoed from the bespectacled girl. "Katsuya-kun, you did it! You drew the short straw!"

"How can you tell?" asked Mitsuko.

"I made sure to colour in the bottom so I could tell which one was the shortest."

"And you couldn't tell that by just looking at them?" she sighed in exasperation.

Katsuya stared at the straw he was holding in absolute horror.

"Congratulations, Katsuya-kun," Maya said kindly. "Looks like you get to be the lucky one to wear the costume."

"Um, yeah about that… I don't think that's it's appropriate to wear fancy dress at work so-"

"Oh, I'm sure it'll be fine. I already sent an e-mail to Kaiba-sama's secretary last week detailing what we would be doing. If there are any problems, I'll gladly take the blame."

"That-that's not the point. I just don't really want-"

"Hurry up, Jounouchi-kun, time to get changed!" yelled Sei, dragging him away.

"Hey, wait!" He stopped struggling when he looked over at the corner to find Arisa giggling to herself with a rather demented-looking expression on her face. It truly was the stuff of nightmares…

"Ahhh!"

*********************************************************************

Seto let out a sigh as he leaned back on his seat, bringing his hand to his forehead. He had a million reports to fill out and no motivation to complete any; his mind elsewhere. He had hardly slept the night before. He could have chalked it up to not sleeping in his own bed but he knew that was a complete lie. He could adapt easily. Or so he had thought anyway.

He couldn't help but reflect back to the blond mutt fast asleep at the foot of his bed curled up in some blanket, and the soft feeling of his hair between his fingers. It was smoother than he expected. He was a heavy sleeper and yet looked so peaceful. He couldn't help but wonder if the teen found solace in his sleep, the only way to escape his grave situation here in reality.

There was a small knock on the door waking Seto from his thoughts. "Come in," he yelled. He just prayed that it wasn't his secretary coming to bring him more reports.

The door opened slowly but no one entered. "Who is that!?" he demanded suspiciously, standing up. After all with so many people out to get his company, he couldn't be too careful.

"Uh, I've brought you some tea," replied the voice.

"Mutt?" Seto let out a mental sigh of relief. "What the hell are you doing? Come in!"

"Are you sure? You know, I could just leave the tea here, and you could-"

"Just bring the tea in!"

What the hell was with the mutt? He was acting so strangely.

"Okay…" And why did he sound so nervous?

But Seto didn't have to wait long to get an answer. He had seen a lot of strange things in his life, but this…

"Here's your tea." Standing in the door way was his schoolmate/house guest/employee, only wearing what appeared to be some sort of maid's outfit.

From Katsuya's expression it looked like he wanted the earth to open up and swallow him. Seto on the other hand didn't quite catch this, too busy gawking in confusion.

They stood like that for half a minute, Katsuya looking down at the floor, anywhere but the teen before him, and Seto staring at the blond in disbelief.

Finally, Seto retained his composure, or half of it, at least. "Mutt, what the hell are you wearing?"

"Oh, it's, uh, a maid's costume…" Katsuya muttered, still not looking at him.

"I can see that! But why?"

"It's Halloween…and I uh, lost," he responded miserably.

Seto blinked. "That still doesn't expla-"

"Just forget it!" the blond yelled suddenly. "Just take your tea and I'll go!"

Unfortunately, completely forgetting that he was, in fact, wearing four-inch heels – something which he really was not used to - he started to stride across the room only to lose balance.

And just like that he started to fall. "Ahh!"

"Mutt!"

He closed his eyes bracing himself for impact with the hard floor. But it didn't come. Instead, he felt something soft and warm pressed against his face. Slowly, he opened his eyes and looked up. There looking down at him was Kaiba.

"Are you okay, mutt?"

Quickly moving his head, he realised that Kaiba's arms where wrapped around him. He had saved him from the fall.

"Kaiba…" He grew even more surprised when the other teen let out a sigh of what sounded like relief.

Katsuya felt himself being pushed away as Kaiba started to stand up. "Idiot dog."

He winced. The millionaire sounded angry, but again much to his surprise, Kaiba held out his hand to him.

"Don't just sit there, mutt!"

"Oh, uh yeah!" As he took hold of the other boy's hand he felt his cheeks burn.

God, this was horrible. It was so embarrassing! Why did these things keep-

"Are you alright?"

Katsuya quickly awoke from his momentary thoughts. "Huh?"

"You didn't get burned, did you?"

Looking at the floor, he saw that the teacup was smashed and the tea was spilt everywhere.

"Ah, I'm sorry!" he cried frantically.

"You really are hopeless, aren't you?"

It was strange. As the heels added a few inches to his height, he was now eye to eye with Kaiba. Although there were only a few inches between them usually, he always felt that Kaiba towered over him It was probably a psychological thing more than anything else.

What was even more peculiar, however, was Kaiba's eyes. They weren't hard like usual, didn't have an icy glare, they were just…

"You should get back to work now."

"Huh?" For a few moments he had lost himself in them.

"I'll get someone to clean the tea up."

"Yeah…" He gave a small nod, and _carefully_ started to leave.

Closing the door behind him he desperately clutched the fabric at his chest. His heart was racing, beating so quickly. But it wasn't just from embarrassment. It was from… he didn't know. Just something else…

* * *

**Authors Notes: **What's this? The boy are actually beginning to realise that they have border-line romantic feelings for each other? Only took like thirteen chapters. _;; So yes, Katsuya in a maid outfit. I'm hoping that it didn't seem too crackish or random. I remember seeing an image from a Seto/Katsuya doujinshi about five/six years ago with Katsuya in a maid outfit, and ever since then I've wanted to write about him wearing one, albeit if only for a very short period. I figured that he would never be got dead wearing something so girly unless he was forced, so I thought the girls (especially Arisa) would be a good way to make it happen. That and I seem to have a extreme liking for making Katsuya become embarrassed and blushing.

Anyway, I'm rambling. Again, thank you so very very much to my awesome beta-reader Sapphy and to you guys for reading! As usual, constructive criticism and any advice on how I could improve are greatly appreciated! ^_^


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: **In no shape or form do I own any of the rights to Yu-Gi-Oh.

**Chapter 14**

The limo ride home felt long, awkward and drawn out. Katsuya was back in his school uniform now while the maid costume from earlier resided in a bag hidden behind his legs. Arisa had insisted that he keep the outfit and no amount of persuasion could change her mind. However, there was no way in hell he would ever wear it again.

How did he even get himself into such a mess? His face turned red every damn time he thought about it. It was even worse than the time he lost that bet to Otogi and was forced to wear that stupid dog costume.

Now on the way back home to the mansion, he had no idea what to say. Kaiba wasn't looking at him and it kind of hurt, but he could understand why.

As soon as the car stopped he quickly got out, his plan to fall into bed, curl up into a small ball and basically, well, die.

"Mutt."

He froze and turned around.

"You left this in the limo."

He looked down to Kaiba's hand to see the bag with the dreaded costume in it. His face turning bright red, he promptly grabbed from him.

"Th-Thanks!"

He was about to run inside when suddenly he felt Kaiba looking over his shoulder.

"That…that outfit. Is it yours?" Kaiba asked plainly.

"Wha-what!? Of course not!" he all but screamed, "I…I was forced to wear this! I drew the short straw and they made me put this stupid thing on."

"Mutt, all the people you work closely with are women," replied the brunette, matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, so?"

"Well, I doubt very much that that particular outfit would fit any of your other colleagues," he said, an amused tone in his voice.

"And?"

"Oh, nothing. It's just quite fortunate that you drew the short straw or else that little outfit would have gone to waste." With that, he walked away, leaving Katsuya there with the bag pressed against his chest.

"Huh, but if I was the only one who could wear it why would Arisa-" And finally, it clicked.

"I…I was TRICKED!?"

*********************************************************************

Katsuya spent the next day at school completely out of it, lost somewhere between complete and utter embarrassment and general confusion.

"Hey, Jounouchi, that girl Suzuhara is totally checking you out!" Honda declared excitedly, leaning against his friend's desk.

"Huh?"

"You know, Suzuhara Yuki. She keeps on looking over here."

"Maybe she's checking _you_ out," said Katsuya dismissively, not really caring.

"Sadly not," the brunette sighed. "I caught her staring at you during English. As soon as she realised that I saw her she blushed and looked away."

"Ah."

"Dude, you should totally go over there and talk to her!"

"I…I don't really wanna," Katsuya replied, resting his head on his hands.

"What is with you? There's the possibility that some really cute chick is interested in you, and you just, what, don't care?"

"I just have other things on my mind right now."

"Like what?" asked Honda, his voice suddenly ripe with concern.

"It…it's kind of private."

"Since when did we keep secrets from each other?" Katsuya felt guilty. He could hear the hurt in his friend's voice, but there was no way Honda would understand. Hell, he didn't even understand himself.

"Ever since your Dad died you've been acting so distant. It's like you're keeping something from me. No, not just me, everyone."

"Honda…" His eyes stayed firmly locked on his desk. He couldn't even look at him. There was nothing he could say, for it was the truth.

"Look, I don't want to push you or anything, but I want you to know that I'll be here when you're ready to talk."

Honda returned to his own desk leaving his friend to his guilt and confusion. There was always a price to pay when you lie. For when you needed the people you cared about the most, you couldn't tell them a damn thing. Not without the lie unravelling.

******************************************************************

Much like with school, Katsuya remained distant and distracted at work, despite his best efforts to appear normal. He never questioned Arisa about the seemingly fixed game that resulted in his complete embarrassment. In fact he wasn't really thinking much about that at all. Instead, he'd spent his time trying _not _to think about the strange sensation in his chest when Kaiba had caught him the night before and how he felt when he had gazed into the millionaire's eyes.

Now back home, he sat on his bed with his eyes fixed on the ceiling. Honda's words from earlier that day also swirled around his head. Just when things seemed like they were finally getting better, just when he finally felt like he belonged somewhere, it all started falling apart in his mind. He cursed himself, wishing he could be strong like Yugi. Neither one of his personalities would lie around moping like this. He was so weak.

Suddenly an image of his beloved younger sister came to mind. Shizuka. It had been awhile since he had last spoken to her. Maybe he would feel better if he called her. But there would be more lying involved. He hated doing it enough as it was when it was his friends, but when he lied to her it felt like he was committing some horrendous crime against humanity.

But he would have to phone her eventually. Besides she had probably already started to worry about him.

There was a knock on the door and Katsuya bolted up right. "He-Hello?"

The door opened and in walked the very last person he wanted to see. "Don't look so surprised, mutt. I live here, too, you know," stated Seto, closing the door behind him.

"Huh? Oh, I wasn't! I just, uh…" he trailed off. Okay, this was very awkward. He'd barely said more than three words at time to Kaiba today, and while Kaiba wasn't a big talker in the first place, it had pretty much seemed that the taller teen had also been avoiding him.

"From the looks of it, you haven't even attempted to make a start on your homework," said Seto, scanning the room for any sign of textbooks or papers.

"Homework?" The blond boy blinked. "Oh crap, I completely forgot about it!"

Katsuya leapt off the bed, quickly making a grab for his rucksack. He'd even forgotten to do yesterday's.

Folding his arms and leaning against the door, Seto sighed. "You're hopeless."

The blond boy got all his books and notepads and threw them onto the small table. He started to open the first book when he stopped suddenly.

"Kaiba, did you want something?" he asked nervously.

"I just wanted to confirm my suspicions that you hadn't even started. I was right, of course."

With a small pout, Katsuya grabbed his pen. Glancing through the instructions, he realised that much to his dismay everything for the subject before him involved what they had gone over in class these pass two days which unfortunately for him relied heavily on note-taking. A bead of sweat ran down the side of cheek as he stared at his empty notepad. He hung his head.

"Here." Looking up, he saw Kaiba standing over him, his arm outstretched with a book in his hand.

He blinked. "What is it?"

"My notes. You weren't paying attention in class at all today."

Katsuya took the notebook and flicked through it. "Wow, there's a lot of stuff in here."

"Well, unlike you, I actually pay attention and make an effort."

"Hey, I pay attention! Uh, most of the time…"

As opposed to his own notebook, there was so much writing in it that he had no idea where to start. It was more like a textbook in itself.

He sat glancing over it for a few minutes before he heard the chair next to him being pulled out.

"Kaiba?"

"Give it here," the brunette demanded.

"Huh? But I haven't even-"

"Just give it to me."

With a sigh, Katsuya reluctantly handed over the notebook.

Kaiba had taken out a pen and was now scribbling furiously in the book.

"What are you-"

"Can't you be quiet for just one minute?"

Grunting, Katsuya turned away and rested his arms on the table.

He sat there silently for five minutes and was just about to start pestering Kaiba on just what the hell he was doing when the notebook was placed back down in front of him.

Picking it up, he quickly glanced over the first page to see that quite a few things had been underlined along with some extra notes written in the margins.

"The text I underlined references the most important material. Make sure you read it closely. Also read the extra information in the margin. That might help you structure your essay better when we finally have to write a report."

"Kaiba…"

"Wh-What?" The mutt was looking at him very strangely. It was making him uncomfortable.

"Huh? Oh, nothing!" Katsuya cried, realising what he was doing "It's just… uh, thank you, that's all. You didn't need to do that."

"Of course I did," the other teen snorted. "There's no way your dog-like brain would have been able to understand it without guidance."

Katsuya didn't even get mad at the comment, instead allowing the smile tugging at the edge of his lips to shine through. "I guess you're right."

Seto blinked, genuinely surprised. Feeling his cheeks turn warm, he turned away, pretending to clear his throat.

What the hell was it that mutt did to him to make him feel this way? He'd never felt like this before. And just seeing that smile of his, it did strange things to him…

When he turned back around, Katsuya was writing furiously in his own notebook. He knew that he should leave, return back to his own room and get some actual work done, but while his mind told him to do this, his legs would not move. And so he sat there silently, casting glances over at the mutt every now and again, unaware that other boy was doing the exact same thing whilst writing. When their eyes finally caught each other's at the same time, both teens quickly turned away.

This was awkward. Until the idiot had come into his life, Seto had never had a problem knowing what to say before. Why should anything be different now?

Okay, what he needed to do was just calm down. Just say the first thing that came to his mind. That's most other people did after all, wasn't it?

"So, that outfit you had on yesterday, it was very nice."

Okay, maybe not that.

"Wh-What!?"

Damn, wrong thing to say. The mutt was now staring at him like he had grown a second head.

"No, no, what, I meant was, uh-" Dear God, he was stuttering. This couldn't get any worse. "It looked very good on you."

Or maybe not.

The mutt's face was practically red now. "What the hell are you saying? Is this like some kind of joke?"

"Of course not!" yelled Seto, his face also turning an interesting shade.

"So you did think it looked nice?"

"Yes! I mean, no. No wait, I mean yes!"

"Which is it?" cried Katsuya, shaking his head in confusion.

"Look mutt, I don't have time for this. I-I'm a very busy person. I have work to do!" The CEO declared in his usual stern tone, standing up. "You…you can keep that notebook."

And with that he quickly headed for the door, leaving Katsuya sitting there looking like he had just been hit over the head with a ton of bricks.

*********************************************************************

So here he was, another day at school totally distracted and spacing out. And just whenever he thought he might get some actual work done in class, his mind would wander straight back to Kaiba's words and within an instant his face would be that dreaded shade of red that it had seemed to become so accustomed to lately.

He was finding it harder and harder to convince his friends that he really was all right; made more difficult by the fact that he really wasn't. Instead he decided that he would have to avoid them till he worked this whole thing out. Just what exactly he was meant to be working out, he wasn't entirely sure. He just knew that his opinion of Kaiba had drastically changed in the past two months and with it, his feelings.

He let out the breath he had been holding as he walked out into the cold winter air. With the exception of a few sports clubs practicing, the place was pretty much deserted, the rest of the students occupying the warmth of their classrooms or at the canteen eating their lunch. And while he would have much rather been following their example than out here, it was pretty hard to avoid his friends in their own classroom. So he found a place to eat his lunch alone and with a loud sigh sat down. This really sucked.

Every time he was around Kaiba he felt nervous. But not the kind of nervousness he felt when on one of his many adventures with Yugi and the others when there was the possibility of something supernatural or something just plain damn creepy happening. It was…he didn't know.

He'd felt it before. Maybe not as strongly as but he'd definitely experienced it before. He just couldn't remember where.

"This is so damn frustrating!" he cursed out loud, crushing the soda can in his hand. Just as he was about to throw it away in anger, he stopped suddenly as noticed the person standing over him.

"Jou-Jounouchi-kun?" It was the girl that Honda had pointed out to him the day before; the girl that he'd said had been watching him.

"Suzuhara?" Quickly he lowered his arm and stood up. "Ah, sorry," he said, letting the empty can drop to the ground.

"Are you alright?" the girl asked quietly.

"Huh? Oh, I'm fine!" he cried, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment.

"Oh, that's good," she replied, sounding genuinely relieved.

"So, uh, what can I do for you?" he asked, cutting straight to the point. He really wasn't in the mood for company.

"I-I was wondering if I could talk to you for a minute?" she stuttered nervously. "Tha-That is if you're not too busy!"

"Sure, that's um, not a problem." Okay, he really didn't want to talk but he also didn't want to come off as a jerk, especially when this girl for whatever reason seemed to have directly sought him out.

"Thank you!" she cried, sounding pleased. "I just…I just wanted to give you this!"

Bowing, she outstretched her arms. In her hands was what appeared to be an envelope. "Please take it! This letter contains all my thoughts and feelings for you, Jounouchi-kun!"

Katsuya just stood there blinking in disbelief. This girl, she was confessing her feelings for him?

"I…I've liked you for quite awhile, Jounouchi-kun. I wanted to tell you sooner. I was just so nervous and my friends told me that I shouldn't get involved with someone like you, but I told them that I know that you're a kind person! An-And yesterday, you caught me staring at you, and I was so worried, I didn't know what to do at first, but then I realised that I should say finally say something, so please take this," she exclaimed, pushing the letter towards him.

Shakily, he took it from her. "Suzuhara…" He paused and stared down at the envelope, a few love-hearts dotted around it. This was a love letter. This girl, she was confessing her love to him; this girl he knew as only a classmate, this girl he had never had a conversation with until right now. She was as nervous as hell, so much fear and anticipation on her face from finally admitting how she felt. The courage she must possess to pour her heart in such a letter. Katsuya, he felt so much admiration for her, but he…

"I can't accept this, Suzuhara-san." Her head snapped up, her eyes filled with shock as if she had just been slapped in the face. "I…I'm sorry, I really am."

"…Why? Why can't you accept it!?" she shouted suddenly, tears filling her eyes.

"It's not you, it's me, I swear! I'm in a really strange place just now and-"

"Do…Do you hate me?"

"What? No, it's…"

"You think I'm ugly, don't you? I know there are prettier girls in the class, but-"

"Suzuhara, that's not it!"

"I just wanted… I just wanted to… I'm sorry for bothering you!" She turned and started to run away, the letter still clasped in Katsuya's hand.

"Suzuhara! Wait!" He wanted to run after her; knew that he should. But what could he possibly say? He had just broken the poor girl's heart.

He stood there silently for a few minutes, allowing his mind to process the situation. Never had he felt as awful as he did at this moment. Lying to his friends, that was bad, but he just rejected this girl, and why? A couple of months ago he would have been absolutely thrilled if some girl came up to him and confessed her feelings to him. So, why the change? Was it his father's death? He wanted to say yes, but he knew that wasn't true. It still hurt like hell, yes, but slowly, day-by-day, he was getting over it.

No, it was something else, and for some goddamn reason, he couldn't figure out what it was.

He kicked the nearby bin over in anger. This, whatever it was, was tearing him apart.

********************************************************************

Suzuhara didn't return to class, and now at work, Katsuya could no longer pretend that everything was all right. He was distant and his co-workers realised rather quickly that something was wrong.

"Katsuya-kun, are you sure you're okay?" Arisa asked him for what must have been the twentieth time that day.

"I'm fine," he announced, loudly enough so the rest of the women could hear too. "I've just had a bad day, that's all."

"Is there anything I can do to help? You know I could-" Arisa stopped as she felt a hand on her shoulder.

Mitsuko stood there, shaking her head slightly. "Just let him be."

"But-"

"Mitsuko's right," Sei agreed, dumping a load of files on one of the desks. "If Katsuya-kun doesn't want our help, then there's really nothing we can do."

The redheaded girl gave a small nod. "I understand. I just feel bad, that's all."

"I know. But if you give it time, I'm sure Jounouchi-kun will be acting like his normal self in no time." said Mitsuko, giving her a reassuring smile. "Now, let's get back to work."

The office had a solemn atmosphere for the remainder of their shift. Sei didn't make any quirky remarks and try and tease Katsuya, Arisa didn't get excited and go on about her new favourite anime and why she loved it so much, and in return Mitsuko didn't have to tell her to shut up and get on with her work. Maya had been needed to take notes for some meeting for the finance department in the opposite side of the building, so they had barely seen her, and by the time they'd finished for the night, she still hadn't returned.

After bidding his workmates good night, he wandered over to Kaiba's office. Usually, he would wait outside for him, but it was currently pouring with rain and he couldn't be bothered getting soaked waiting for Kaiba to finally decide that he was finished for the night and they could go home.

He knocked on the door lightly and then walked in, not even waiting for Kaiba to tell him to enter.

"Give me five minutes, mutt," said Kaiba, not even glancing up from his work. How the hell Kaiba even knew it was him, Katsuya didn't know.

He moved over to one of the windows, the rain still thrashing down outside. Yawning, he stretched out his arms when suddenly something fell out of his pocket and on to the floor.

He bent down and picked it up to find it was the love letter that Suzuhara had written him; the letter he hadn't even read. He wasn't going to read it but at the same time just throwing it away seemed wrong.

As he stared down at it that wave of guilt he felt swirling about inside him just grew ten-fold. He remembered being jealous in middle school of all those guys who received love notes from cute girls. There was a girl he had liked in his final year, but being a gang member back then, he knew that there was no way she would ever like him back. Yet at one time he had been compelled to write his own letter to her. However, guys didn't do that sort of thing, and if word had gotten out then he would have been beaten and kicked out of his gang for sure.

He could still remember the way he felt every time he saw her; the fast pace of his heart beat, the churning of his stomach, the joy he felt whenever he got to be near her.

It was so long ago now and yet felt so familiar, as if he had only just felt it shortly ago. "I wonder if I'll ever feel that way about someone again," he thought to himself.

"Mutt, are you okay?" he heard Kaiba ask from his desk.

"Yeah, I'm fi-" He stopped mid-sentence feeling like he had just been punched in the gut as a realisation hit him with tremendous force.

The reason why his feelings for that girl felt so familiar, the reason he rejected Suzuhara Yuki…

"Are you sure you're okay?"

Kaiba. He had feelings for Kaiba.

"Mutt." He felt a hand on his shoulder and instantly spun around. Kaiba was behind him and instead of his usual smug expression there was concern.

"Kaiba…"

"What the hell's wrong with you?" Seto asked trying to sound annoyed in an attempt to mask the worry in his voice.

He liked Kaiba. He had feelings for Kaiba… It shouldn't have made any sense, but somehow it did. He was constantly blushing and he felt happy when the other teen was around. He'd missed being with his friends but somehow knowing that he'd get to spent time with Kaiba, it made things all right.

"I…I…" He couldn't get anything out. He hadn't a clue what the hell to say.

He jumped slightly as he felt both of Kaiba's hands grasp hold of his arms. "Jounouchi, what's wrong?" Anything Kaiba had been holding back before was now gone, and he sounded downright scared. "Are you feeling ill? Did something bad happen?"

Jounouchi…He had called him 'Jounouchi'. Not once had he ever called him directly by his name.

"Please tell me."

And he couldn't speak, couldn't say a single thing no matter how hard he tried and yet his body moved on his own and he found himself resting his hands on Kaiba's shoulders as he pushed himself up so that that their lips were touching.

He was kissing Kaiba.

The brunette's eyes were as wide as saucers and it would have been almost comical if not for the situation. Katsuya expected Kaiba to push him away any second now as the shock wore off and he realised what was happening. In fact, he was counting on it. But he didn't. Instead he could feel Kaiba kissing him back and it is him that is the one pulling away.

He put his hand over his mouth, and just like him, Kaiba appeared to be at a complete loss for words.

That's when he turned away; turned away and ran, leaving Kaiba standing there in the now-empty office.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **Finally a kiss! Again, I'm really sorry for the wait. I hope you enjoyed the chapter nonetheless. Constructive criticism and any advice on how I could improve are greatly appreciated! Thank you again to my awesome beta-reader Sapphy and to you guys for reading!


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer:** In no way, shape or form do I own any of the rights to Yu-Gi-Oh.

**Chapter 15**

With the rain pelting down and no direction in mind, Katsuya ran as fast as his legs could carry him. He had no idea how long he had been running for, only that his legs ached and it felt like his heart would stop at any moment.

He had kissed him. He had kissed Kaiba. Why? Why? Why?! Of all the stupid things he could have done…

Feeling that his legs would snap if he ran any further he finally stopped, falling down to his knees. He gasped desperately for breath as he held on to the wall for support.

"_Are you feeling ill? Did something bad happen?"_ Kaiba's voice rang in his head. _"Please tell me."_

Kaiba had sounded so kind, so gentle. There was actual concern in his voice. And then he had kissed him. He had kissed him, and Kaiba hadn't pulled away. So what…what did that mean? Was he just too shocked to respond? Or did he…was it possible that he felt the same way?

He groaned in pain. His body was soaked and hurting all over. What would he do? He couldn't go back. There was no way he could face him. Kaiba, what if he hated-

"Katsuya-kun?"

Turning around, the blond-haired boy saw a woman with long silver hair huddled under an umbrella. His eyes widened as he realised who it was. "M-Maya-sempai."

"Oh my goodness, what are you doing out here? Are you all right? What happened?" she asked frantically, dropping her umbrella and rushing to his side.

"I'm fine, I-" He stopped, interrupted by a cough.

"You're absolutely drenched. Here, come on," she said, helping him to stand up. "Let's get you home."

"No!" the teen declared, suddenly. "I don't want… I mean, I can't go…"

"Then, you can come to my apartment," she replied softly, gazing at him with sympathetic eyes.

He opened his mouth to argue, only to find he hadn't the strength. If he stayed out here, he'd get sick, and he couldn't go running to Yugi or Honda. Not in such a state. In the end, he had no other choice but to go with Maya.

"My apartment isn't far from here," she said, picking up her umbrella. She held it over him, though considering he was already soaked, Katsuya saw little point. Nonetheless, he stayed quiet as he followed Maya home.

* * *

Maya had been right; it had only taken them ten minutes to actually get to her apartment.

"Please make yourself at home. I'll go get you a towel and some dry clothes."

Curious, Katsuya gazed around the apartment. It was surprisingly big. Did Maya-sempai live here by herself, he wondered. It seemed rather large for one person. Then again, he supposed his vision of what was big or not was skewed considering the apartment he and his father had occupied had been incredibly small.

"Here you go," she said, handing him a towel. "Make sure to dry yourself completely. We don't want you getting a cold now, do we?"

He couldn't help but smile. "Thank you, Maya-sempai."

"Oh, I brought you a clean pair of clothes as well," With a smile, she placed them in front of him. "They'll probably be a little big but until we get your other clothes dried, it'll do. I'll go into the other room while you change."

With that she got up and left, sliding the door shut.

Katsuya removed his damp clothes and quickly started drying himself, feeling incredibly awkward about being naked in his sempai's house.

He gazed down at the clothes given to him, intrigued, wondering who they belonged to. Again, Maya hadn't said anything about anyone else living here. Would it be rude to ask?

Katsuya rolled up the sleeves of the shirt. She was right about it being big for him, but he couldn't complain.

"Uh, Maya-sempai, I've finished changing!" he called, still feeling embarrassed.

The older woman slid the door open. "That's great. How does it-"

She stopped suddenly, her eyes widening slightly.

"Maya-sempai? Are you okay?" Katsuya asked, confused.

"Eh? Oh…Oh yes, I'm fine!" she cried. "I was just about to brew some tea. I think you should have some. It'll warm you up."

Not wanting to refuse Maya's hospitality, he nodded.

* * *

Seto's eyes stared emptily at the blank computer screen. Several hours had passed since the mutt had run off, and he had no idea where he had gone. He hadn't been able to bring himself to chase after Jounouchi when he ran out of the office, too shocked to do anything actually. He was unsure how long he had stood there before returning to his senses.

Jounouchi had kissed him. And then he ran off. But what was bothering him most of all, was that he had kissed him back. He hadn't protested, hadn't tried to push him away, he just…let it be.

If he was being truthful, he actually enjoyed it. Unconsciously he put his fingers to his lips. His first kiss… 'Had it been Jounouchi's as well?' he wondered.

No, that didn't matter; he had run off after all. Acting so strangely then doing something like that and disappearing. The mutt was pathetic. But then again, what did that say about him? Allowing it to happen, allowing himself to get led on like that… No, he was just as pitiable.

"_Seto, allow yourself to trust no one. Let yourself get involved with someone emotionally and they'll only screw you over. That is weakness. And Kaibas are not weak!"_

His adopted father's words rang through his mind. He chuckled inwardly. Looked like the tyrant was right after all…

"Nii-sama!" Seto's thoughts were interrupted by the sudden emergence of his younger brother.

"Dinner's ready!" the raven-haired boy cried cheerfully. "Hey, where's Jounouchi?" he then asked, looking around the room, confused.

"Why would you think he's in here?" Seto questioned accusingly, without even thinking.

"Well, he's not in his room, and I know you help him with his homework, so I figured-"

"He's not here."

Mokuba blinked. "Then where is he? Is he with Yugi or-"

"I'm unaware of where he is," Seto replied blankly, shuffling the papers on his desk in attempt to hide the fact that he'd been sat there staring into space.

"Huh? But…um, is he okay?" Mokuba asked, growing concerned.

"I'm afraid I don't know that, either."

"Didn't you come home from Kaibacorp together?"

"No. He…" Seto paused. "He ran off."

"But why?"

"I have no idea. And frankly I don't really care."

"Liar."

Seto instantly stopped. "What did you say?"

"I said that you're lying. You know exactly why Jounouchi ran off."

The teenager snorted. "That's absurd."

"No, I know you well enough, Nii-sama, to realise when you're lying," the boy stated matter-of-factly. "After all, you used to do it all the time. Only then it was to protect me from that bastard Gozaburo."

"Mokuba, I do not want to be having this conversation," Seto began, trying to dissuade him.

"Too bad that it's already happening."

Seto's eyes narrowed. Mokuba had never spoken to him like this before.

"Whatever happened between you and Jounouchi, you should try to sort it out and bring him back."

Seto laughed. "And why would I want to do that? That mutt has been an unwelcome guest for too long. Bringing him here, taking him in, such an idiotic mistake."

"No, Nii-sama. That was the best thing you ever did."

His blue eyes widened. "What the hell are-"

"Don't you get it!? Ever since Jounouchi's been living here with us, you've changed! You've been different! You've finally shown interest in someone else other than me, and that's great Nii-sama! You have a friend!"

"That's absurd. The mutt doesn't-"

"No! He really likes you. He considers you his friend. You've both been getting on so well. Actually, I think he might even-"

"Stop it!" Seto demanded, standing up. "Stop with this nonsense! Especially when it doesn't concern you!"

Mokuba's eyes widened. His brother was yelling at him. Nii-sama, who had never…

Quickly, he shook his head. No, he couldn't give up. "Why are you so afraid?" he cried, clenching his hands tightly. "Why are you so afraid to let anyone in? Everyone needs a friend! Everyone deserves to be lov-"

Seto snorted. "Friends? Friends serve no purpose for me. The only things in this life that matter to me are you and Kaibacorp. Everything else is irrelevant."

Mokuba gazed up at his brother in complete despair. No. How could this be? Nii-sama had been doing so well. He'd finally…He'd finally…

"Nii-sama, you're a complete idiot! Why can't you just accept that you care about him?!" he screamed, before storming out the room, tears in his eyes.

And just like with Jounouchi, Seto never went after him.

He bit down on his bottom lip. "Mokuba, I'm sorry. I…I just can't…"

* * *

Sat at the small table in the living room with Maya-sempai, Katsuya sipped his tea quietly, having no idea what to say. So far she hadn't asked him what had happened, had just kindly taken him in, no questions asked. He was unsure if this made him more nervous or not.

"You're welcome to stay here tonight," she said, breaking the silence. "Am I right in assuming that you and Kaiba-sama had a falling out?"

Katsuya winced at the sudden reminder of Kaiba and how he had just ran out on him. "Oh, please don't feel like you have to tell me anything," Maya replied quickly, sensing the tension in him. "As I said, you're more than welcome to spend the night."

Not saying anything, Katsuya gave a small nod.

"My, look at how late it is!" the silver haired woman declared, glancing at the clock in the kitchen. "Have you had anything to eat yet?"

Again without saying anything Katsuya shook his head. "Then I'll make us some dinner. I haven't eaten myself."

As she wandered into the kitchen, Katsuya heard her talking to herself, debating what to cook. A sad smile formed on his lips as he remembered his mother. Not as she was now but what she had been to him; when she had still cared about him. As soon as she and his father had divorced she had severed all ties to Katsuya, and part of him couldn't help but wonder if she even still considered herself as having a son.

Maya-sempai, she would make a great mother one day. He was sure of it. From what he could tell so far, she definitely seemed to live alone. He wondered if she had a boyfriend. After all, it seemed unbelievable for someone as beautiful and dependable as her not to.

A few minutes later, Maya appeared declaring to him that she would make a curry-based dish.

Having been told by her to make himself at home, Katsuya switched on the television. Although it had been along while since he had last watched any, he found himself unable to concentrate on anything happening on the screen. Still, the thought of sitting there in silence staring absently into space while Maya cooked seemed kind of sad, so he kept it on.

"Katsuya-kun, would mind setting the table?" she asked kindly about half an hour or so later, placing some mats and cutlery on the table. "Dinner's just about ready."

"No problem," he replied, getting to his feet.

As he started placing the cutlery out, something caught his eye. It was a framed photograph sat in the bookcase. In the photo stood a smiling Maya with an attractive looking man with his arm wrapped around her. Completely forgetting his task, he stopped and stared at it, entranced. She looked so happy.

"Dinner's ready!" she announced, entering the living room carrying with two plates in her hands.

Katsuya jumped slightly, startled. "Katsuya-kun, are you alright?" she asked, concerned.

"Huh? Oh, I'm fine!" he replied, then realised that because he'd been distracted, he hadn't finished setting the table. "Ah! Sorry!"

She gave a small laugh. "That's quite all right."

A minute or so later, the table was set, and they were both sat down to their meal.

Katsuya ate his food slowly. In all honesty, he wasn't all that hungry, his appetite having all but disappeared. But again he would have felt guilty refusing Maya-sempai's hospitality. Geez, when had he become so courteous?

Unconsciously, he found himself staring at that same photograph.

"That's my favourite photograph," Maya chipped in, startling him once again.

"Oh yeah? It's really nice," he responded, feeling strangely awkward as if he had been caught doing something inappropriate. "Who is the other person in photo?"

"That's Keiichi," she said with a small smile. "He's…well, he's my fiancé."

"Ah, so are these his clothes?" he asked, referring to what he was currently wearing.

"Yes, they are. Oh, but don't worry! He won't mind!" she added quickly, noticing the somewhat embarrassed look on his face.

"So uh, do you get to spend much time with him? You know, working late and all," Katsuya enquired, desperately trying to change the subject.

"Oh yes, I visit him every day before work. Or well I try to."

"Wow, you sound like a pretty dedicated girlfriend!" he said, impressed.

"Oh, not really. It-" She paused for moment and Katsuya thought he saw sadness in her eyes. "It's the least I can do."

"You must love him very much," he said, feeling oddly jealous. To love someone and to have them love you in return. He wished things were that simple for him.

"Yes. I love him more than anyone," she admitted. And coming from anyone else, it might have sounded corny, but with Maya-sempai, he believed it to be true.

Still, it was strange, he thought, that in all the time they had worked together, he couldn't recall her having ever once mentioned Keiichi.

"Do you have someone that you are in love with, Katsuya-kun?" she asked suddenly.

His eyes widened slightly. Love? Did he? No, no, he couldn't! He was...

"Katsuya-kun? Are you alright?" the woman asked, a concerned expression on her face.

"I…I'm fine. I just-"

"Could that be why you're here? Because of the one you love?"

"Huh? Of-Of course not! I don't love Kai-" He stopped suddenly, placing his hands over his mouth. The words 'Kaiba' and 'love' in the same sentence; what the hell?

Maya gave a small laugh. "I see. Nonetheless, it's always difficult when you have a fight with someone you care about."

Katsuya opened his mouth to argue, but stopped before saying anything. No, he did care about Kaiba. Although there were times that were incredibly awkward, he enjoyed Kaiba's company. Being with him, it made him happy.

And, of course, he had to go and ruin it.

"It wasn't so much a fight as me screwing things up," he admitted dejectedly. "I…did something I shouldn't have."

"Could apologising not make it better?" Maya enquired.

Katsuya shook his head. "It's not as simple as that. The thing that I did, I still don't understand why I did it. I mean I do but I…" Sighing, he ran his hand through his hair. "I just shouldn't have. I've only messed things up."

"Was the thing that you did really that awful? Was it unpleasant?"

"No…It was kind of nice…but…"

"And did Kaiba-sama dislike what you did?"

"Huh? I, uh, don't think so." He had kissed back…

"And what about afterwards?"

"Afterwards? Well, I kind of ran away after that so I don't know, but I'm sure-"

"Hmm, maybe it's not so bad after all. If you liked what you did and Kaiba-sama liked what you did, then perhaps things aren't as troublesome as they seem."

"I…I'm not sure…"

"I'm afraid that the only way that you'll find out is if you ask Kaiba-sama himself." The woman replied sympathetically. "But first you must understand how you feel about it."

"Understand how I feel, huh?" He gave a sad chuckle. Just a couple of months ago Kaiba had been his most hated enemy. He had never had to think about any of this stuff before. Everything had been so black and white then. So simple.

Yes, it had been simple, but had it been better? Throwing insults back and forth at each other for no real reason, getting stupidly frustrated. And now he had, what, a friend? If he did consider Kaiba a friend, it was definitely in a very different way from what he considered Honda and Yugi. For one, he couldn't possibly imagine ever kissing either one of them. And while before he couldn't have possibly considered kissing Kaiba, it wasn't unpleasant. It didn't feel wrong to him. He wasn't disgusted. Really, what he felt was, well, insecure.

"Ma-Maya-sempai, I…I think I understand how I feel, I just-" He clenched his fists tightly on his knees. "I'm scared. I don't know what's gonna happen. I mean what if he doesn't feel the same way?" God, he sounded like a prepubescent girl with a crush.

"You'll only find out if you ask him."

"Yeah, I guess so." he sighed. If only he had actually been a prepubescent girl then he could have just gotten one of his friends to go ask Kaiba for him.

Terrified but full of determination, Katsuya stood up. "Maya-sempai, thank you for the meal. I know I didn't eat much but-"

"It's alright. I understand," she assured him sympathetically. "I hope you find the answer you're looking for."

He nodded. "Thank you."

"I'll bring your dry clothes with me to work tomorrow."

"That's if I still have a job that is."

"Oh, I'm positive that it will work out," she smiled.

"Um, Keiichi, I, uh, I'd like to meet him sometime."

"I'm sure he would love to meet you, too."

"Good night." And with that he rushed out of the apartment, feeling that despite all the things he had faced in the past couple of years, he had never been so afraid in his entire life.

* * *

**Author's Notes: **I can't believe that I've been posting this story for three years now. I truly am the slowest writer in the world. I apologise for the long waits in between chapters, much love to those of you who have stuck by and kept reading. It means a lot!

Also, thank you to my beta reader Sapphy. Constructive criticism and any advice on how I could improve are greatly appreciated!


	16. Chapter 16

******Disclaimer:** In no way, shape or form do I own any of the rights to Yu-Gi-Oh**.**

**Chapter 16**

Katsuya wished he had asked to borrow Maya-sempai's umbrella before he rushed back outside, as once again he found himself soaking wet. He had tried shielding himself with the jacket of his school uniform but it soon became apparent that it wasn't going to do much good.

By the time he reached the mansion he was completely out of breath, and each step he took up the stairs felt intolerably laborious. He paused for a few minutes to catch his breath, allowing his body to rest against one of the large pillars.

Hesitantly he opened the door. Even though he had been staying there for two months, he still felt strange doing what was more or less just wandering into the mansion. With a small gulp he walked into the expansive entrance way. He heard a clock in the corner chime loudly and it was only then that he realised just how late it was. Would Kaiba still be up? What if he had gone to bed already? Should he wait until morning?

Quickly, he shook his head. No, he needed to do this now.

He could feel his heart pounding as he finally reached Kaiba's room, and taking a deep breath, he knocked on the door.

There was no response at first, and so tentatively he knocked again.

"Come in."

As he opened the door, it occurred to him that he had no idea what he was going to say, and just like that he was filled with dread.

"Mokuba, can we do this-"

Seto's eyes widened slightly as he saw who it was.

"Mutt."

"Hey." Katsuya replied weakly. Yep, he really did have no idea what to say.

The brunette's eyes narrowed and he opened his mouth as if to yell, when suddenly he stopped, taking in the other teen's appearance.

"You're soaking wet."

Katsuya blinked. "Huh? Yeah, I guess I am." he admitted, timidly.

Seto sighed, what he had been about to say now apparently lost. Without saying anything, he walked over to one of his chest of drawers and pulled out a towel.

"Strip." he commanded.

Katsuya looked bewildered. "Eh?"

"You're dripping water everywhere, mutt! Take off your damn clothes."

"Su-Sure!" Panicked and without a second thought, he hurriedly took them off leaving only his underwear on. Of course, it was only after he did this that realised that he was in Kaiba's room, _only_ in his underwear.

"Here." said Seto, throwing him the towel. "Dry yourself off."

Katsuya's face turned bright red as he caught the towel. Embarrassed, he ran the towel over his body. Twice he dropped it, barely able to focus. He was thankful that Kaiba at least had the decency to look away.

"So, getting yourself drenched, is this going to become a recurring theme for you?" Seto asked with an exasperated sigh. Katsuya didn't reply.

Seto wandered over to another chest of drawers and this time pulled out a pair of pyjamas. "Here, put these on," he said, handing them to him. "You need to keep yourself warm."

Compared to two months previously, the situation felt so surreal that Katsuya almost wanted to laugh. Instead he started to wordlessly put the pyjamas on.

Like Maya-sempai's fiancé's clothes, the pyjamas were slightly too big for him, which in turn did nothing to quell his sense of unease and the feeling of being out of place.

"These clothes aren't yours." Seto stated, upon realising that the other teen hadn't been wearing his school uniform.

"Uh, yeah, I ran into Maya-sempai. She took me back to her apartment and let me borrow them because my uniform was so wet." he confessed, awkwardly.

"And so you decided to return the favour by getting those clothes wet as well." Seto said harshly. Katsuya winced. He was right after all.

"Well don't just leave them on the floor. Pick them up and go give them to one of the serving staff to dry." Meekly, the blond bend down and gathered them up.

As Katsuya stood there wearing the pyjamas that were too big for him and with the clothes bunched up in arms, Seto couldn't help but take note of how small he looked. The teen was clearly uncomfortable. He could relate.

The awkward silence dragged on, neither of them having a clue what to say. Seto continued to stand there unmoving while Katsuya fidgeted.

"Kaiba, I-" Katsuya stopped, suddenly interrupted by a sneeze. "Ah sorry." he said, rubbing his nose with his hand.

Seto frowned. "Do you just go running out into the rain in the hope of getting sick?"

"Of course not! I-" Once again he sneezed.

Before Katsuya could even continue, Seto was suddenly in front of him. "Ka-Kaiba!"

The brunette placed his hand on his forehead to check his temperature. "You don't feel too warm." Seto confirmed, and Katsuya's face turned red.

Seto quickly drew his hand back, realising what he was doing. Looking uncomfortable, he cleared his throat. "You should be fine."

"Have you eaten anything tonight?" he asked, quickly changing the subject.

"Uh, I had some curry at Maya-sempai's place."

"I see. Then you should go to bed." he said before turning away.

"Kaiba!" he cried, and moved to reach out to him, but the moment he saw the look in Kaiba's eyes as he turned to him, he faltered. "What is it, mutt? I have a lot of work to do and I myself have to get to bed."

"I... Nothing." he said, almost a whisper.

"I see. Then like, I said, you should go to bed and rest."

He gave a weak nod. "Sure..."

He closed the door, and walked the corridor back to his room. As soon as he got there, he threw himself on top of the bed. Unlike before when his heart had been racing, he now felt strangely empty. The look in Kaiba's eyes; it had been so cold, so distant...

He curled in on himself. He hadn't even said anything; could only stand there. What the hell was wrong with him?

Kaiba hadn't thrown him out at least, but still...

He gripped the sheets. Just as things looked like they were getting better, he had gone and fucked it all up.

* * *

Katsuya let out an annoyed groan as his alarm rang loudly. Sluggishly he climbed over the bed to get to the bedside table. With a frustrated sigh, he let his body fall back down onto the mattress. He was surprised that he had fallen asleep at all, having fully expected to be lying awake all the night. If how heavy his body felt was any indication then he had definitely needed the sleep. He supposed running around in the pouring rain was enough to tire anyone out.

He lay there for ten more minutes, trying to force himself up. He felt so tired, and with the whole Kaiba situation, he had rather not have any interaction with the world at all on this particular day. But he knew just lying there would do him no good either, and so dragging himself up, he went in a shower, letting the warm water wash over him. A cold shower would have been better for waking him up, he knew, but after the havoc of the previous night, he decided to allow himself this luxury. Just like getting up, making himself to get out of the shower felt like an unbearable task.

After getting dressed and gathering his things for school, he headed down for breakfast. Not surprisingly, Kaiba was nowhere to be seen. Whether he was relieved or not, he couldn't quite decide.

Staring at the food before him, Katsuya suddenly felt sick. His appetite certainly hadn't returned. He was tempted to push the plate away all together, but he knew he would have to eat something if he wanted to get through the day. Finally he settled on a piece of toast.

Just as he started to butter it, he heard a loud yawn and instantly tensed up.

"Jounouchi! You're back!"

Seeing that it was only Mokuba, he let out the breath he had been holding.

"Jounouchi, where the hell where you last night!?" the dark haired body asked frantically.

And just like that, he tensed up again. Mokuba knew he had run out and apparently Kaiba hadn't covered up for him by saying he was at Yugi or Honda's.

"I, uh..." What the hell could he say? 'Oh, I kind of kissed your brother, then panicked over it so decided to bolt.'

"You disappearing..." He started, "Nii-sama, it..." The boy then stopped, quickly shaking his head. "No, you're back now and that's all that matters. It'll be fine."

Katsuya frowned. Why was he finding it so difficult to look at the kid?

"It will be fine, right, Jounouchi?" Mokuba asked uncertainly.

'Sure! Of course it will be!' He wanted to say, but instead, "I...I don't know."

"I see..." Mokuba replied, looking completely dejected. Pushing himself away from the table, the dark haired boy got up. "I uh, better go to school or I'll be late." And with that, he left.

Katsuya put down the piece of toast he was holding. He couldn't eat.

* * *

It had taken him twenty minutes to get up after Mokuba had left. He felt guilty. He hadn't even considered how his actions might affect the younger Kaiba brother. The boy definitely hadn't been his usual cheerful self, and it was only after he had left had he realised how tired Mokuba looked. Usually, the kid would have offered him a ride to school, and the fact that he didn't made it clear that he was upset with him. However, in the end, Katsuya couldn't really blame him.

He thought about skipping school, but that would simply be another thing he was running from. And so he forced himself to stand up and go, arriving over half an hour late.

The teacher gave him a stern talking to in front of the entire class, but he barely took any of it in. When the teacher finally finished, he simply nodded and headed to his seat. His eyes widened, when he saw that Kaiba's desk was empty. Despite running a multi-million dollar company, Kaiba rarely ever missed school.

Where the hell was he?

* * *

"Kaiba-sama, here are the reports you asked for."

Seto stopped his furious typing and accepted the documents from his secretary. "Thank you." he replied.

With a small bow, she walked out and closed the door, leaving Seto alone in his office.

He was doing what he often did when he was stressed, and that was throw himself into his work. With certain things happening he had fallen behind. He had recently taken over a rival company, and there were still plenty of things to be sorted out regarding the transition. As such, he had come to the office to catch up with work, telling himself that it was the only reason he was here and that it had in no shape or form anything to do with him avoiding seeing a certain blond haired teen. Still, despite this, he couldn't help but feel slightly ashamed of himself.

He picked up his cup of coffee and took a sip. He frowned. It was cold already.

He was surprised to find that it was almost midday when his eyes glanced over the clock on his laptop screen. He buzzed his secretary and told her to order lunch. He was hungry and now that he thought about it, he hadn't eaten anything since lunch the previous day; having decided to forgo breakfast that morning, as well as dinner last night for, obvious reasons.

Leaning back in his chair, he spun around so he was facing the window. Unlike yesterday it was rather clear day.

The mutt had managed to get himself soaked again but had seemed alright last night. How he was today however, he had no idea. Despite wanting to, he couldn't deny the relief he felt when the other teen had come walking through the door. At the time, his mind had been filled with worry. Part of him had thought that he wouldn't return and surely he should have been happy about that prospect?

No, he knew that wasn't the case. It hadn't been the case for quite awhile now. Hadn't he acknowledged already that he liked the mutt being around?

He sighed as he thought back to what Mokuba had said.

'_Don't you get it!? Ever since Jounouchi's been living here with us, you've changed! You've been different!_'

Was Mokuba right? Had he really changed? And if he had, was it really for the better?

Jounouchi had kissed him that night in this very office; that much he knew. What he didn't know however was why he had kissed him back. It had been a fleeting thing. One moment they were kissing and the next, the mutt was pulling away. Then he ran.

He smirked. 'Of course he ran away,' the self-deprecating part of him thought. "Why wouldn't he run?'

The only reason the mutt came back was because he had nowhere else to go. His pride wouldn't allow him to go running to his friends. And unless he wanted to be homeless he was stuck with Kaiba. Returning to him had been the only option.

If that was the case, he needed to get the mutt out of his life as soon as possible. He wasn't cold enough to throw the dog out on the streets however. If he increased the teen's wages then in a few months he should be able to afford his own small apartment. But no, if he did that, then he would have to increase the rest of that departments wages, and since they had been working there longer than him, he would have-

He stopped, suddenly realising how ridiculous the situation it was; all of this to avoid one person. It almost made him want to laugh. Gozaburo was right. He had become emotionally attached to someone and like the barbaric old man had said, he had gotten himself screwed over.

"I really am weak."

* * *

As soon as the bell for lunch rang, Katsuya all but ran out of the classroom. He felt suffocated and his thoughts where all over the place. Suzuhara Yuki had returned to school and he was trying his damned hardest not to look at her. She being just another thing for him to feel guilty about after all.

He hadn't brought any lunch with him and so he stood next to one of the school's vending machines, trying to fish whatever spare change he had out of his pockets.

Nope, not even enough for a chocolate bar. He cursed out loud when suddenly a small hand appeared, holding out some coins to him. Katsuya blinked and looked over to see Yugi standing there.

"Here," the teen said kindly. "You forgot your money, right? You can at least buy a sandwich."

Katsuya wavered for a moment, not wanting to accept it, but when he saw the sweet smile on his friend's face, he knew he couldn't say no.

"Thanks." he replied, forcing his own smile.

"Mind if I join you for lunch?" Yugi asked, once he had gotten his sandwich.

Again he wanted to say no, but whether it was the aura of innocence that Yugi radiated or not, Katsuya found it difficult to say no to him. "Sure."

Silently they went and sat at one of the benches outside. Like the day before, there were barely any students out.

From the moment Katsuya took a bite out of his sandwich, he could feel his stomach thanking him, and as such, he ate hastily.

"Jounouchi-kun, is...is everything alright?" His friend finally asked.

'Sure, of course, it is!' he wanted to say. But yet again, he found he didn't have the energy to lie like that. And so, he remained silent.

"Is it something you can't talk about?"

"..."

"Because you know, I'll be here for you no matter what! And not just me; Honda, Anzu, Bakura and even Otogi, I'm sure!"

"I know that." Katsuya stated weakly. "I really do. You guys are great. But this... this is something I have to deal with on my own. I just...I just don't know what I'm doing." He rested his head on his knees and sighed.

Yugi stared at him sadly. "Jounouchi..."

"I really fucked up, Yugi. I have no idea what to do. And the funny thing is; the thing I want to try and fix is pretty fucked up too." he said with a weak laugh.

"Is there really nothing I can do to help?" Yugi asked, sympathetically.

"Nah, I think this is something I have to figure out for myself." he replied, pushing himself back up.

Katsuya felt his heart wrench when saw the overwhelming concern on his friend's face. "I'll be fine, Yugi. Don't worry so much." he tried to assure.

"You've been so cheerful lately. When your Dad...Well, after it happened, you were so sad. We were all really worried about you. But the past couple of months, you've seemed a lot happier. It was the friend you met at work, right?"

"...At work?" Suddenly, his mind flashed back to the conversation he had with Yugi at his house previously.

_"I don't know. You just seem different lately, like you enjoy going to work. And even though you hardly have any free time, you still seem cheerful. Could it be that you've met someone?"_

Katsuya didn't reply, instead focusing his gaze on the ground.

"Did something happen between the two of you? Did you get in a fight?"

Katsuya tensed. "I...I can't really say."

Yugi nodded. "I understand. But if you want to talk, I'm here for you."

Katsuya grinned slightly. It was pretty much what Honda had said. He really did have the best friends. But still, he couldn't tell them. Not about this. Not when he himself barely had a clue what he felt.

Out of the blue, the school bell rang and Yugi all but pouted. "Lunch is over already? Well, I guess we better head back to class." The shorter teenager started to walk away when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Yugi..." the blond started, "I just wanted to say, thanks for everything."

"Jounouchi..."

"Let's have a game of Duel Monsters soon. It's been ages since I've played and I'm getting rusty, which for one of the world's champions is pretty unacceptable, you know?"

Yugi smiled. "That'd be great."

"Awesome! Now let's hurry to class. I don't wanna get chewed out by another teacher for being late!"

* * *

**Author's Note: **So I haven't updated in over three years. I apologise for such a long gap. I haven't got much of an excuse other than writer's block and loss of confidence. I am however, determined to finish this.

Anyway, Katsuya and Seto are still being emotional dumbasses but things will be resolved soon enough. I have the next chapter mostly written so it shouldn't be too long for the next update. Certainly not three years anyway.

Apologies for any spelling or grammatical errors, and thank you very much for reading!


	17. Chapter 17

******Disclaimer:** In no way, shape or form do I own any of the rights to Yu-Gi-Oh**.**

**Chapter 17**

As with school, Katsuya was running late for work. Remembering the clothes that his sempai lent him, he had rushed back to the mansion to pick them up. He found them on the table next to the door having been washed and ironed by one of Kaiba's servants. He wanted to thank the person who had done it but had no time. He would thank them when he returned in the evening.

"If you're able to return," he thought, forlornly. He honestly wouldn't have been surprised if Kaiba told him not to bother coming back. Not that he could blame him.

Just as he reached the office door, he hesitated. What if he went in there only to be told by one of his sempai that he was fired? What would he do then? Where would he go? And how could-

"Yo! Jounouchi-kun! How's it going?"

The teenager leapt up in the air. "Se-Sei-san!"

"Wow, sorry. I didn't mean to startle you." The woman laughed, scratching the back of her head.

Katsuya exhaled loudly, feeling as if he had just lost years off his life.

"Man, kids these days are so tense. You need to relax more!"

He wanted to point out that she wasn't that much older than him herself, but chose to keep quiet.

"Though, in saying that, I guess you can't relax too much, considering you're late and all."

Now it was Katsuya who was scratching the back of his head. "Ah, sorry, about that, I..."

"Don't worry about it. I have you covered." she assured with a grin.

"Jounouchi-kun, you're late." stated Mitsuko, the moment he entered the office. Figured.

"Sorry, that's my bad." said Sei, throwing her arm around his shoulder. "I needed help carrying some files to one of the conference rooms and caught Jounouchi-kun as he was heading here."

Mitsuko's face softened somewhat. "I see. Well, I suppose that's alright then."

"Speaking of someone who needs to relax and lighten up, right, Jou-kun?" the blonde woman laughed.

"I very much hope that you're not implying me, Sei-san." said Mitsuko, her brow twitching.

"Amazing! How did you guess?"

Katsuya took a step back as the dark haired woman started to yell at Sei, a bead of sweat running down his face.

"Katsuya-kun! How are you doing?" Arisa asked cheerfully, ignoring her bickering co-workers.

"Uh, I'm fine, thanks."

"Oh, what have you got there?" she enquired, staring at the package under his arm.

"Well..." He hesitated, unsure of whether to tell her or not. He had no idea if Maya-sempai had told her colleagues about finding him in the rain and taking him to her apartment. Judging by their interactions with him however, he supposed not. From what he could garner, Maya was a private person so it was very possible she didn't want them to know.

"Could it be another cosplay?" the red haired girl asked with a devious grin.

"Don't put Jounouchi-kun, on the same level as you!" yelled Mitsuko, taking a break from shouting at Sei.

"But-But he looked so good in it!" Arisa cried with a squeal of delight.

"Hey, Mitsuko, maybe you should cosplay then you'd loosen up a bit." laughed Sei.

"What did you say!?"

"Yeah, Mii-chan should definitely cosplay!" Arisa agreed.

"I'll never cosplay! And don't call me 'Mii-chan!'"

"Careful, Arisa. You made 'Mii-chan' mad."

"Sei-san!"

Katsuya couldn't help but smile. Despite all the screaming and general chaos of the office, he found himself strangely at ease. He wanted to thank them. Although since he couldn't really say what for, he instead was resolved to work as twice as hard that day.

* * *

As the hours went by Katsuya did his best to help out in the office as much as possible.

"You're working really hard today, Jounouchi-kun." Mitsuko said, pleased, finally having calmed down.

"No problem." he replied with an awkward chuckle as he helped his sempai move some boxes. "Hey, is Maya-sempai around?" He hadn't seen her all day.

"She's helping with another department who are short staffed at the moment."

"Ah, I see."

"She'll be back before our shift is over, however." The woman assured, noting his disappointment.

He wanted to return the clothes he had borrowed as soon as possible, feeling guilty what with them belonging to her fiancée and all.

"Mitsuko-sempai..."

"Hmm?"

"Maya-sempai...Have you ever met her fiancée?"

Mitsuko stopped suddenly, looking surprised. "You mean Keiichi-san?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Maya-sempai's such a great person that I was wondering what kind of person he is."

"Yes, she is a great person." she said. "But no, I haven't met him before. I do know however that she loves him very much. She's very dedicated to him. More dedicated than anyone I've ever known."

He wasn't sure if he was misinterpreting but Mitsuko's voice sounded oddly solemn.

"How long have they been engaged?"

"It must be coming on two years now."

"Two years, huh? I guess they must be getting hitched pretty soon then."

"I'm afraid not." she replied, turning away to pick up some files.

"Huh? How come? Does he work abroad or something?"

"I see. So, she didn't mention then..."

He blinked, confused. "Mention what?"

"I really shouldn't-" She paused and then sighed, clearly conflicted.

"Keiichi-san, he's well... Not long after they got engaged, there was a terrible accident."

Katsuya tensed. "An accident?"

"Yes, a car accident. It was a wet and stormy night, and Keiichi-san lost control of the car. As a result, he was badly injured."

"But he didn't die...did he?" Katsuya asked, fearfully.

She shook her head. "No, thankfully he survived. But he's been in a coma ever since. And every single day without fail, Maya-sempai will go to the hospital to see him."

Katsuya was speechless. He had no idea.

"The doctors aren't sure if he'll ever wake up."

"But Maya-sempai, she still..."

She nodded. "I believe that she will always remain by his side. With even the smallest chance of him waking up, I don't think she'll ever be able to move on."

"She always seems so..."

"Cheerful? Yes, I suppose that's how it appears to others. Inside however, she's no doubt suffering very much." Mitsuko stated sadly.

He had no idea what to do with the information. "Is there anything we could..." He trailed off, knowing the answer all ready.

"If you act the way you always have, that will be enough." she told him with small smile. "Even with her own pain, Maya-sempai hates seeing other people suffer even more."

He gave a weak nod. That sounded like her.

"Well, I better take these reports to the Finance department. I won't be long."

She walked out, leaving him alone in the room.

Katsuya continued his duties with a heavy feeling in his stomach. After hearing that story, he felt awful, barely able to imagine what his sempai was going through.

His shift was at its end and Maya hadn't returned yet. Katsuya wasn't sure if he could face her when she did. He had been so full of determination when he had left her apartment only for things to end up this way. And once again there was that familiar feeling of shame.

He hesitated on whether to leave the package containing the clothes on his sempai's desk. He put it down only to pick it back up again. He would return it properly to her tomorrow. He could at least do that.

Katsuya headed outside to wait for Kaiba at the usual spot, wondering solemnly if he hadn't gone to Kaiba's office the previous night, if things would be different right now.

As the minutes passed by, the blond boy became filled with more and more dread. He hadn't seen Kaiba since the previous evening and his mind flashed with a hundred different thoughts; the realisation of his feelings, Kaiba's lips against his, running away, talking to Maya, to finally returning to the mansion. Kaiba had seemed concerned about him when he had returned; relieved almost. But then... his eyes, they had grown so cold, so distant...

It had been a long time since he had last seen that expression on Kaiba's face. While the CEO never smiled, his features had softened and the thought of being on the receiving end of one of Kaiba's hard and cold glares again, made his heart sink.

Tightly he gripped the package under his arm, almost believing it to be an anchor he needed to hold on to. If he didn't hold on he would be swept away by the continuous barrage of thoughts.

Katsuya tensed as Kaiba finally came into view.

"Hey." he said weakly.

"Hello." Kaiba replied curtly, continuing on to the limo.

Katsuya couldn't help but notice how weary Kaiba looked. It was strange. Had he ever thought of him looking this way before? In the past he had seemed like a machine to him, not showing emotion and never tiring despite the taxing predicaments he was placed in. It confirmed once again to Katsuya how much his view of the teen had changed.

He followed Kaiba into the limo, sitting opposite him. As he felt so uncomfortable, the minutes that passed by felt like hours, and he couldn't help but think back to Maya and her fiancé as well as the strange feeling of guilt that followed.

He glanced over at Kaiba who appeared to be absorbed in reading some sort of financial report, ignoring him completely.

Was this what it would be like from now? And if so, how long could they go on like this?

Katsuya gripped his hands together. No he had to say something.

"Kaiba!" The brunette stopped reading and stared over at him.

Katsuya's face turned red, having yelled louder than he had intended to. It also dawned on him that while he was determined to say something, he didn't actually know what to say.

"I... Well, about the other night... I..."

"I understand. It was mistake. You don't need to say anything else." Seto replied, bluntly.

Katsuya's eyes grew wide. What? No. Kaiba had kissed him back hadn't he? How could he say...No, he had just been caught by surprise that's all. Of course, Kaiba wouldn't...

He gave a weak chuckle. "No, you're right. Of course it was. I was just being..." The words caught in his throat. He was stupid to have expected any other reaction. Hell, in the end, he should be thankful. After all Kaiba could easily have thrown him out and then what would he have done? No, he was lucky; very lucky. And yet, at the same time, he felt so very hurt.

Seto watched the other teen with growing unease. While he wasn't the best at reading the emotions of others, it was somewhat obvious that the mutt was troubled, and a rare feeling of guilt welled up inside him.

Katsuya now seemed to be doing his damned hardest not to look at him, and Kaiba's guilt changed to anger. Anger at himself or Jounouchi, however, he wasn't sure.

All of a sudden, the car came to a screeching halt and Katsuya was thrown towards Seto, falling over on the seat beside him.

"What happened!?" Kaiba demanded.

"S-Sorry, sir!" the driver called back timidly, the privacy window lowering. "Someone just walked straight out onto the road. I had to stop to avoid hitting them."

The CEO sighed. "Are you alright, sir?"

"Yes. Keep going." he commanded, crossing his arms.

As the vehicle started to move again, Seto noticed that Jounouchi was still positioned over the seat next to him, his face obscured in his arms.

Unconsciously Seto started to reach out, only to quickly stop himself.

"Mutt..."

"I'm such an idiot." came the muffled response. "I've fucked things up again, haven't I?"

"You must hate me." Katsuya said, raising his head slightly. "I cause nothing but trouble for you. It's just... I realised that I really like you and I guess that's why I kissed you. I didn't think."

"I understand if you want me to leave. I don't blame you. You've done so much for me already, and I still promise that I'll pay you back somehow. If it's alright with you, before you take my security pass away, could I go to KaibaCorp one last time? I have to return those clothes to Maya-sempai and thank her. I also want to say goodbye to everyone else. They were all so kind to me that I'd feel bad not saying anything. And I-"

Katsuya stopped, feeling a hand press down softly on his head. "You really are a fool. Don't just go assuming things."

The blond boy looked up to see Seto staring down at him with a strange expression.

"Finding a new employee would be too much hassle right now." he stated sternly. "Don't think you can just skip out on work when there's so much to do."

"Kaiba..."

"Also, I don't hate you." Seto added, his voice growing softer. "I suppose in the end, I'm a fool as well."

Katsuya's eyes widened slightly. Kaiba never spoke of himself this way.

Seeing the look of disbelief on the other teen's face, Seto sighed. "What I'm saying is I don't want you to leave."

"But why?"

"Because I like having you around, that's why." replied Seto, looking strangely put out by the admission.

A moment later he was pushed back as Katsuya climbed up on the seat and wrapped his arms around him. Seto's eyes widened, caught off guard by the blond teen's sudden action.

"I want to stay with you." he mumbled into Seto's shoulder.

After regaining his composure, Seto lifted up his arm and his hand on the boy's head. "Well, I suppose that works out for both of us then."

They sat in silence, Katsuya enjoying the feel of the brunette's body against his. A part of him wanted to stay like this forever.

"It's weird but when I'm with you, it feels like everything is going to be alright." whispered Katsuya, his voice barely audible.

Once again, Seto was taken aback. Not quite sure how to respond to this confession, he adjusted Katsuya's body, pulling him up to rest on his lap.

"Ka-Kaiba!" Katsuya cried out, clearly surprised.

He couldn't help but grin a little. The other boy was blushing, and Seto had to admit, he found it somewhat endearing.

"Mutt."

"W-What?"

He tilted the other teen's head up and a moment later his lips were pressed against Katsuya's. The brown eyed boy gave no resistance, melting into the other's kiss as he grabbed on to Seto's jacket with both hands. While their first kiss had been rushed, they now took their time, both savouring the moment before gently parting.

Seto's blue eyes bore into Katsuya with such intensity, that the other teen found himself having to glance away.

"Ah, that... that was nice." Katsuya supplied weakly, finding himself suddenly overwhelmed.

"It was." Seto agreed.

"Actually that kiss back at your office, that was my first one, you know." the shorter teen admitted embarrassedly.

"It was also mine."

"Huh? Really!?" Katsuya cried, quickly turning back to look at the other teen.

"You seem surprised."

"Yeah, well..." He supposed he really shouldn't have been. Other than Mokuba, Kaiba didn't care much for people; certainly not enough to go around being intimate with someone.

"Anyway, I'm glad." he said with a small smile. While it may have been somewhat mushy, he was pleased that their first kisses were with each other.

Seto raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Just because."

"I see."

The car drew to a stop and Katsuya quickly climbed off of Seto's lap, knowing that the driver would soon appear to open the door.

Seto had a small grin on his face, apparently amused by the action. "Come on, Mutt." he said, offering out his hand. "Let's go home."

Katsuya grinned in return and took it. "Right!"

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Again, sorry for the long delay between chapters and thank you very much to everyone who's stuck with this story for so long! We're finally drawing towards the end so a couple more chapters and that will be it over.

As usual, apologies for any spelling or grammatical errors, and thank you very much for reading.


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